SSC CHSL Exam

Study Material for History

 INDIA’S FREEDOM MOVEMENT
Indian National Congress
 The Indian national congress was founded in 1885 on the advice of Allan Octavian Hume, a
retired EnglishICS officer.
 The first session of the congress was held at Bombay. Chaired by W.C.Bannerjee.
 The first session of the Indian National Congress was held on 28 December 1885.
 The list of Indian National Congress sessions with their Presidents

Year Place President Importance

First session attended by 72
1885 Bombay W C Bannerjee
delegates
1886 Calcutta Dadabhai Naoroji
1887 Madras Syed Badruddin Tyabji First Muslim president
George Yule was the first English
1888 Allahabad George Yule
President of INC
1889 Bombay Sir William Wedderburn
1890 Calcutta Feroz Shah Mehta
1892 Allahabad W C Bannerjee
1893 Lahore Dadabhai Naoroji
1895 Poona Surendranath Banerjee
National song ‘Vande Mataram’
1896 Calcutta Rahimtullah M. Sayani sung for the first time by
Rabindranath Tagore
1905 Benares Gopal Krishna Gokhale
1906 Calcutta Dadabhai Naoroji The word swaraj used first time
Party splits into extremists and
1907 Surat Rash Behari Ghosh
moderates
‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the
1911 Calcutta Bishan Narayan Dar
first time
Lucknow Pact – joint session
1916 Lucknow Ambica Charan Mazumdar
with the Muslim League
First woman president of the
1917 Calcutta Annie Besant
INC
Under the presidentship of
Motilal Nehru, the Congress
1919 Amritsar Motilal Nehru condemned the Jallianwala Bagh
massacre in the strongest of
terms.
 Gandhiji moved the Non-
1920 Calcutta Lala Lajpat Rai
cooperation resolution
1922 Gaya C R Das
Only session presided over by
1924 Belgaum M K Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
1925 Kanpur Sarojini Naidu First Indian woman president
A resolution was passed which
advocated the boycott of the
1927 Madras M.A. Ansari Simon Commission “at every
stage and in every form”.

1928 Calcutta Motilal Nehru All India Youth Congress formed

 Passed the Resolution on
‘Poorna Swaraj.’
 January to be observed as
‘Poorna Swaraj Day’.
1929 Lahore Jawaharlal Nehru  Civil Disobedience
movement for complete
independence to be
launched.

 Gandhi-Irwin pact
endorsed.
 Gandhi nominated to
represent INC in the
second round table
conference.
1931 Karachi Vallabhbhai Patel  Adopted a resolution on
Fundamental Rights and
Duties and provided an
insight into what the
economic policy of an
independent India

Amendment in the Constitution

1934 Bombay Rajendra Prasad
of Congress
Push towards socialist ideas by
1936 Lucknow Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Faizpur First Session to be held in a
1936 Jawaharlal Nehru
(Maharashtra) village
National planning committee set
1938 Haripura Subhas Chandra Bose
up under Jawaharlal Nehru
1939 Tripuri Subhas Chandra Bose  Subhas Chandra Bose was
 re- elected but had to
resign due to protest by
Gandhiji
 Rajendra Prasad was
appointed in his place
 Subhash Chandra Bose
formed Forward Bloc

 Civil Disobedience
movement to be launched
1940 Ramgarh Abul Kalam Azad at appropriate time and
circumstances.
Last session before
1946 Meerut Acharya Kripalani
independence
1948 Jaipur Pattabhi Sitaramayya First session after independence

The Moderades
 They believed in peaceful approach to the government to redress the grievances and asking
for major reforms.
 Surendranath Banarjee, Dadabai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Gopala Krishna Gokhale and
M.G.Ranade were some of the important moderate leaders.
o Dadabhai Naoroji known as the Grand Old Man of India.
o Elected to the British Parliament in 1892, he founded the India Society (1865) and
the East India Association (1866) in London. He was elected thrice as the President of
the INC.
o He gave the theory of ‘drain of wealth’ in his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in
India 1867.
o Naoroji’s book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India offered a scathing criticism of
the economic impact ofBritish rule.
 The demands of moderates were described as “Political Mendicacy”.

Extremists
 Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, and Arabind Ghoshwere
some of theimportant extremist leaders.
 Tilak raised the slogan “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it” and he started newspaper
“kesari”.
Partition of Bengal (1905)
 In 1905 Lord Curzon made the partition of Bengal. He divided Bengal into two parts-East and
west parts. Dueto the violent criticism and agitation the partition was revoked in 1911.
 The intention of Curzon was to suppress the political activities against the British rule in
Bengal and to createa Hindu–Muslim divide.

Swadeshi Movement (1905)

 The Swadeshi movement sought to oppose British rule and encourage the ideas of self-help,
Swadeshi enterprise, national education, and use of Indian languages.
 To fight for swaraj, the radicals advocated mass mobilization and boycott of British
institutions and goods.

All-India Muslim League (1906)

 On December 30, 1906 Muslim league was formed under the leadership of Aga Khan, the
Nawab of Dhaka and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk to safeguard the rights of Indian Muslims.
 Factors that promote the Muslim league are – British Plan, Lack of Education, Loss of
Sovereignty by Muslims, Expression of Religious Colour, Economic backwardness of India.

Minto-Morley Reforms (Indian Councils Act 1909)

 The Indian Councils Act 1909 or Morley-Minto Reforms or Minto-Morley Reforms was
passed by British Parliament in 1909 in an attempt to widen the scope of legislative councils,
placate the demands of moderates in Indian National Congress and to increase the
participation of Indians in the governance. This act got royal assent on 25 May 1909.

Delhi Durbar (1911)

 In 1911 King George V paid a visit to India. Darbar was held to commemorate the coronation
of King George V and Queen Mary as Emperor and Empress of India.
 The King declared that Capital of India will be transferred from Calcutta to Delhi.
 In the same Darbar it was also declared the Partition of Bengal is cancelled.

Formation of The Ghadar Party at San Francisco (1914)

 The Ghadar Party was an organization founded by Punjabis, principally Sikhs in the United
States and Canada with the aim of securing India’s independence from British rule.
 The founding president of Ghadar Party was Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardayal was the
co-founder of this party.

Indian Home Rule League (1916)

 The Indian Home Rule movement was a movement in British India on the lines of Irish Home
Rule movement and other home rule movements.
  The movement lasted around two years between 1916–1918 and is believed to have set the
stage for the independence movement under the leadership of Annie Besant all over India
whereas B. G. Tilak participation was limited to western India only.
 Indian Home Rule League of Tilak was launched in April 1916, while the Home Rule League
of Annie Besant came into existence in September that year.

Lucknow Pact (1916)

 Lucknow Pact, (December 1916), an agreement made by the Indian National Congress
headed by Maratha leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the All-India Muslim League led by
Muhammad Ali Jinnah; it was adopted by the Congress at its Lucknow session on December
29 and by the league on Dec. 31, 1916.
 The meeting at Lucknow marked the reunion of the moderate and extremists wings of the
Congress.

Champaran Satyagraha (1917)

 The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, in the Champaran district of Bihar, India during the
period of the British Raj, was the first Satyagraha movement inspired by Mohandas Gandhi
and a major revolt in the Indian Independence Movement.
 The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagraha.
 This movement was against the tinakathia system. Under the tinakathia system the
peasants were bound to plant 3 out of 20 parts of his land with indigo for his landlord.

Montague-Chelmsford Reforms (1919)

 The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more briefly known as Mont-Ford Reforms were
reforms introduced by the British colonial government in India to introduce self-governing
institutions gradually to India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Samuel Montagu,
the Secretary of State for India during the latter parts of World War I and Lord Chelmsford,
Viceroy of India between 1916 and 1921.
 The important features of this act were as follows:
o The Central Legislative Council was now to consist of two houses- The Imperial
Legislative and the Council of States.
o The provinces were to follow the Dual Government System or Dyarchy
o The secretary of state and the governor-general could interfere in respect of
“reserved” subjects while in respect of the “transferred” subjects; the scope for their
interference was restricted.

Rowlatt Act (1919)

 The British Government passed the Rowlett Act in 1919.It empowered the British
Government to arrestanyone without warrant and imprisoned without trial.
 Gandhi called it a ‘Black Act’ and in protest called for a nation-wide satyagraha on 6 April
1919
Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar (1919)
 On April 13, 1919, which happened to be ‘Baisakhi’, one of Punjab’s largest religious
festivals, fifty British Indian Army soldiers, commanded by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer,
began shooting at an unarmed gathering of men, women, and children without warning.
 Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest against this incident.
 Gandhi surrendered his Kaiser-i-Hind medal.

Non-cooperation Movement (1920)

 It was led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi after the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
 It aimed to resist British rule in India through nonviolence means, “Ahimsa”.
 The ideas of Ahimsa and nonviolence, and Gandhi’s ability to rally hundreds of thousands of
common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were first seen on a large scale
in this movement through the summer of 1920

Khilafat Movement launched (1920)

 The Khilafat movement (1919-1924) was an agitation by Indian Muslims allied with Indian
nationalism in the years following World War I.
 Its purpose was to pressure the British government to preserve the authority of the
Ottoman Sultan as Caliph of Islam following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end
of the war.
 The Ali brothers-Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali and Moulana Abul Kalam Azad organized
Khilafat Movement.
 Gandhi supported the Khilafat movement and saw in it an opportunity to unite Hindus and
Muslims. Hepresided over the All India Khilafat Conference held at Delhi in November 1919.

Moplah Rebellion in Malabar (1921)

 The Moplah Rebellion or the Malabar Rebellion was an extended version of the Khilafat
Movement in Kerala in 1921.
 The Government had declared the Congress and Khilafat meetings illegal. So, a reaction in
Kerala began against the crackdown of the British in Eranad and Valluvanad taluks of
Malabar.

Chauri-Chaura Incidence (1922)

 The Chauri Chaura incident occurred at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of the
United Province, (modern Uttar Pradesh) in British India on 5 February 1922, when a large
group of protesters, participating in the Non-cooperation movement, clashed with police,
who opened fire.
 The incident led to the deaths of three civilians and 22 or 23 policemen. Mahatma Gandhi,
who was strictly against violence, halted the Non-cooperation Movement on the national
level on 12 February 1922, as a direct result of this incident.
Swaraj Party Formed (1923)
 The Swaraj Party or the Congress-Khilafat Swarajya Party was formed on 1 January 1923 by
C R Das and Motilal Nehru formed in India in January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference
in December 1922 of the National Congress.
– C R Das was the President and the Secretary was Motilal Nehru.
– Prominent leaders of the Swaraj Party included N C Kelkar, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
and Subhas Chandra Bose.

Appointed of Simon Commission (1927)

 The Indian Statutory Commission, commonly referred to as the Simon Commission was a
group of seven British Members of Parliament of United Kingdom under the chairmanship of
Sir John Allsebrook Simon assisted by Clement Attlee.
 The commission arrived in British India in 1928.
 The commission was boycotted by the Indian National Congress and most other Indian
political parties because Indians were excluded from the commission.

Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)

 The Bardoli Satyagraha, 1928 was a movement in the independence struggle led by Sardar
Vallabhai Patel for the farmers of Bardoli against the unjust raising of taxes.

Central Assembly Bombed by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt (1929)

 In order to court arrest, Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw political
handouts and smoke bombs at the Delhi Central Legislative Assembly.
 The aim behind the bombing was not to cause harm but protest against the passing of two
repressive bills, the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bill.

Civil Disobedience Movement/Salt Satyagraha (1930)

 Salt March, also called Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha, major nonviolent protest action in
India led by Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi in March–April 1930.
 The march was the first act in an even-larger campaign of civil disobedience (satyagraha)
Gandhi waged against British rule in India that extended into early 1931 and garnered
Gandhi widespread support among the Indian populace and considerable worldwide
attention.

First Round Table Conference (1930)

 The first Round Table Conference convened from 12 November 1930 to 19 January 1931.
 The Round Table Conference officially inaugurated by His Majesty George V on November
12, 1930 in Royal Gallery House of Lords at London and chaired by the British Prime Minister,
Ramsay MacDonald.
 Congress did not participate in the first conference, but representatives from all other
Indian parties and a number of Princes did.
Gandhi–Irwin Pact (1931)
 Gandhi-Irwin Pact, agreement signed on March 5, 1931, between Mohandas K. Gandhi,
leader of the Indian nationalist movement, and Lord Irwin (later Lord Halifax), British viceroy
(1926–31) of India.
 It marked the end of a period of civil disobedience (satyagraha) in India against British rule
that Gandhi and his followers had initiated with the Salt March (March–April 1930).

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev Martyred (1931)

 On March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh along with his associates Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram
Rajguru were hanged to death for the assassination of 21-year-old British police officer John
Saunders.
 The day they were executed is celebrated as Martyrs’ Day throughout the country.

Second Round Table Conference (1931)

 The second session (September–December 1931) was attended by Mahatma Gandhi as the
Congress representative.
 It failed to reach agreement, either constitutionally or on communal representation.

Poona Pact (1932)

 The Poona Pact refers to an agreement between B. R. Ambedkar and M. K. Gandhi on the
reservation of electoral seats for the depressed classes in the legislature of British India
government.
 The agreement was signed by Pt Madan Mohan Malviya and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and some
Dalit leaders at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, to break Mahathma Gandhi’s fast unto death.

Communal Award (1932)

 On August 16, 1932, the British Prime Minister McDonald announced the Communal Award.
Thus, it is also known as McDonald Award.
 The Communal Award was basically a proposal on minority representation.

Third Round Table Conference (1932)

 Third Round Table Conference was held in London on November 17, 1932. This was just a
nominal conference, Congress refused to attend it.
 The recommendations of this conference were published in a White Paper in 1933 and later
discussed in the British Parliament. The recommendations were analysed and the
Government of India Act of 1935 was passed on its basis.

Government of India Act 1935

 The Government of India Act, 1935 was passed by British Parliament in August 1935. With
321 sections and 10 schedules, this was the longest act passed by British Parliament so far
 and was later split into two parts viz. Government of India Act, 1935 and Government of
Burma Act, 1935.
 Salient Features of the Government of India Act 1935 were as follows:
o Abolition of provincial dyarchy and introduction of dyarchy at centre.
o Abolition of Indian Council and introduction of an advisory body in its place.
o Provision for an All India Federation with British India territories and princely states.
o Elaborate safeguards and protective instruments for minorities.
o Supremacy of British Parliament.
o Increase in size of legislatures, extension of franchise, division of subjects into three
lists and retention of communal electorate.
o Separation of Burma from India.

All India Forward Bloc Established by Subhas Chandra Bose (1939)

 The All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist political party in India.
 It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra
Bose.

Lahore Resolution (1940)

 The All India Muslim League met in Lahore in March 1940. The League adopted a resolution
that has become known as the Lahore Resolution.
 March 23, the date on which this Resolution was adopted, is celebrated in Pakistan every
year.
 The resolution was presented at Minto Park (now renamed ‘Iqbal Park’), in Lahore, by
Maulvi A.K. Fazlul Huq on the instructions of the Working Committee.

August Offer (1940)

 On 8 August 1940, early in the Battle of Britain, the Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, made
the so-called “August Offer”, a fresh proposal promising the expansion of the Executive
Council to include more Indians, the establishment of an advisory war council, giving full
weight to minority opinion, and the recognition of Indians’ right to frame their own
constitution (after the end of the war).
 In return, it was hoped that all parties and communities in India would cooperate in Britain’s
war effort.

Cripps Mission (1942)

 The mission was headed by a senior minister Sir Stafford Cripps, Lord Privy Seal and leader
of the House of Commons.
 The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to
secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II.

Quit India Movement (1942)

  The Quit India Movement or the India August Movement, was a movement launched at the
Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942,
during World War II, demanding an end to British Rule of India.
 On August 8th 1942, Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in
Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan.

Indian National Army (1942)

 The Indian National Army (INA) was originally founded by Capt Mohan Singh in Singapore in
September 1942 with Japan’s Indian POWs.
 The idea of a liberation army was revived with the arrival of Subhas Chandra Bose in the Far
East in 1943. In July, at a meeting in Singapore, Rash Behari Bose handed over control of the
organisation to Subhas Chandra Bose.
 At its height it consisted of some 85,000 regular troops, including a separate women’s unit,
the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (named after Rani Lakshmi Bai), which is seen as a first of its
kind in Asia.

Wavell Plan/Simla Conference (1945)

 Lord Wavell who had succeeded Lord Linlithgow as Governor-General in October, 1943,
made a way out from the existing stalemate the deadlock in India.
 He broadcast to the people of India the proposals of the British Government to resolve the
deadlock in India on 14th June which is called Wavell Plan. It is also known as Breakdown
Plan.
 Lord Wavell invited a conference of 21 Indian Political leaders at the Summer Capital of
British Government Shimla to discuss the provision of Wavell Plan.
 Discussion was stuck at a point of selection of Muslim representatives.

Cabinet Mission Plan (1946)

 The United Kingdom Cabinet Mission of 1946 to India aimed to discuss the transfer of power
from the British government to the Indian leadership, with the aim of preserving India’s
unity and granting it independence.
 Formulated at the initiative of Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
the mission had Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Cripps,
President of the Board of Trade, and A. V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Direct Action Day (1946)

 On 16 August 1946 also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, was a day of widespread
communal rioting between Muslims and Hindus in the city of Calcutta (now known as
Kolkata) in the Bengal province of British India.

The Interim Government (1946)

  On 2nd September 1946, the newly-elected Constituent Assembly formed interim
government of India whichexisted till 15th August 1947.
 The interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru was formed in September 1946.

Formation of Constituent Assembly (1946)

 Constituent Assembly was constituted on 9th December, 1946 and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was
elected its president.
Attlee's Announcement
The Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced on February 20, 1947, that:
 The British Government would grant full self-government to British India by June 3, 1948.
 The future of the Princely States would be decided after the date of final transfer is decided.

Mountbatten Plan or June 3 Plan

 India divided into two separate nations India and Pakistan.
 The Princely states would enjoy the liberty to join either India or Pakistan or ever remain
independent.
 August 15, 1947, was date fixed for handling over power to India and Pakistan.
 Boundary commission was to be set up under Radcliffe Brown and the award would be
announced after thetransfer of power.
 Punjab and Bengal Legislative Assemblies would vote on whether they should be partitioned.

Indian Independence Act 1947

 The Indian Independence Act 1947 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that
partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan.
 The legislation was formulated by the government of Prime Minister Clement Attlee and the
Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten, after representatives of the Indian National
Congress, the Muslim League, and the Sikh community came to an agreement with Lord
Mountbatten on what has come to be known as the 3 June Plan or Mountbatten Plan.
 This plan was the last plan for independence.

Indian Freedom Struggle Timeline

Year Event
1857 The Revolt of 1857
1864 Establishment of Scientific Society by Syed Ahmed
Establishment of Theosophical Society
1875
Establishment of Indian League
1876 Vernacular Press Act (Proposed by Lord Lytton, then viceroy)
1882 Hunter Commission (Also known as Indian Education Commission)
 1883 Ilbert Bill proposed by Lord Ripon
1884 Ilbert Bill passed
Establishment of INC. 1st INC Session was held at Bombay (Presided
1885
over by W.C. Bannerjee)
1897 Ramakrishna Mission founded by Swami Vivekanand
July, 1905 Partition of Bengal announced by Lord Curzon
16th October 1905 Partition of Bengal
31st December 1906 All-India Muslim League Founded at Dacca
1907 Surat Split of INC
11th August 1908 Execution of Khudiram Bose
1909 Minto-Morley Reforms (Also called Indian Councils Act 1909)
1910 Indian Press Act
1911 Cancellation of Partition of Bengal
April 1916 Establishment of Home Rule by Bal Gangadhar Tilak
December 1916 Lucknow Pact (agreement reached between INC & Muslim League)
1917 Champaran Satyagraha
1918 Establishment of Madras Labour Union
1919 Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
16th February 1919 Rowlatt Act Passed
13th April 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre
1920-22 Non-Cooperation Movement
5th February 1922 Chauri Chaura incident took place
Late 1922 - Early 1923 Establishment of Swarajya Party
1925 Kakori Conspiracy
1927 Establishment of Simon Commission
Assassination of Saunders by Bhagat Singh.
1928
Nehru Report
3rd February 1928 Simon Commission arrives in India
December 1929 Purna Swaraj Declaration (Lahore Session)
Bombing in Central Legislative Assembly by Bhagat Singh &
8th April 1929
Batukeshwar Dutt.
18th April 1930 Chittagong armoury raid
 12th March 1930 Civil Disobedience Movement starts with Dandi March
6th April 1930 Dandi March Ends
30th November 1930 1st Round Table Conference
Gandhi - Irwin Pact (5th March 1931)
5th March 1931
Karachi Session of INC
Poona Act
1932
3rd Round Table Conference
1935 Government of India Act
22th June 1939 All India Forward Bloc formed
18-22 August 1940 August Offer by Lord Linlithgow
1942 Quit India Movement
Cripps Mission;
1942 Establishment of Indian Independence League;
Formation of Azad Hind Fauj (1st September)
1945 Wavell Plan announced in Shimla Conference
Cabinet Mission (Formulated at the initiative of Clement Attlee, PM
1946
of UK)
June 1947 Mountbatten Plan
1947 Indian Independence Act
15th August 1947 Independence Day of India
SSC CGL
Study Material For Biology
 LIST OF INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES
Invention/Discovery Name of the Inventor Year of Invention
Automatic Calculator Wilhelm Schickard 1623
Air Conditioner Willis Carrier 1902
Anemometer Leon Battista Alberti 1450
Animation J. Stuart Blackton —
Atom Bomb Julius Robert Oppenheimer 1945
Aspirin Dr. Felix Hoffman 1899
Airplane Wilber and Orville Wright 1903
Adhesive tape Richard G. Drew 1923
Bacteria Antoni van Leeuwenhoek 1676
Bifocal Lens Benjamin Franklin 1779
Barometer Evangelista Torricelli 1643
Barbed Wire Joseph F. Glidden 1873
Blood Group Karl Lansdsteiner 1900s
Ball Point Pen John Loud —
Bicycle Tyres John Boyd Dunlop 1888
Pedal Driven Bicycle Kirkpatrick Macmillan 1839
Cell Robert Hooke 1665
Cell Nucleus Robert Brown 1831
Celluloid Alexander Parkes 1861
Chloroform Sir James Young Simpson —
Cine Camera Wm. Friese-Greene 1889
Circulation of blood William Harvey 1628
Clock Mechanical Hsing and Ling-Tsan 1725
Diesel Engine Rudolf Diesel 1892
Centigrade Scale Anders Celsius 1742
Chlorine Carl Wilhelm Scheele 1774
Dynamite Alfred B. Nobel 1867
Diesel Engine Rudolf Diesel 1895
Electric stove/cooker William S. Hadaway 1896
Electroscope William Gilbert 1600s
Electric Fan Schuyler Wheeler 1882
Electric Battery Volta 1800
Elevator Elisha G. Otis 1852
Electric Motor (DC) Thomas Davenport 1873
Electromagnet William Sturgeon 1824
Fountain Pen Petrache Poenaru 1827
Fluorine André-Marie Ampère 1810
Gramophone Thomas Edison 1878
Hydrogen Henry Cavendish 1766
Helicopter Igor Sikorsky 1939
Homeopathy &
Samuel Hahnemann 1796 & 1810
Allopathy
Hovercraft Christopher Cockerell 1959
Hot Air Balloon Josef & Etienne Montgolfier 1783
Helium Jules Janssen 1868
Insulin Sir Frederick Banting 1923
Jet Engine Hans Von Ohain 1936
Laws of Heredity Gregor Mendel —
Lightning Conductor Benjamin Franklin 1752
Locomotive George Stephenson 1804
Laser Theodore Maiman 1960
Light Bulb Thomas Edison 1854
Motorcycle Gottlieb Daimler 1885
Microscope Zacharis Janssen 1590
Microphone Alexander Graham Bell 1876
Machine Gun Richard Gatling 1861
Neon Lamp Georges Claude 1915
Oxygen Joseph Priestley 1774
Ozone Christian Schonbein 1839
Piano Bartolomeo Cristofori 1700
Printing Press Johannes Gutenberg 1440
Parachute Louis-Sebastien Lenormand 1783
Periodic Table Dmitri Mendeleev 1869
Penicillin Alexander Fleming 1928
Pacemaker Rune Elmqvist 1952
Petrol for Motor Car Karl Benz 1885
Plague Vaccine Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine 1892
Polio Vaccine Jonas Edward Salk –
Refrigerator William Cullen 1748
Rabies Vaccine Louis Pasteur 1885
Radium Marie & Pierre Curie 1898
Rubber (vulcanized) Charles Goodyear 1841
Rocket Engine Robert H. Goddard 1926
Radio Guglielmo Marconi 1894
Richter Scale Charles Richter 1935
Ship (Turbine) Charles Parsons 1894
Smallpox Vaccine Edward Jenner 1796
Steam Ship Robert Fulton 1807
Steam Boat Robert Fulton 1786
Structure of DNA James Watson & Francis Crick 1952
Submarine Cornelis Drebbel 1620
Stethoscope Rene Laennec 1816
Saxophone Adolphe Sax 1846
Sewing Machine Elias Howe 1846
Steam-Powered Airship Henri Giffard 1852
Soft Contact lenses Otto Wichterle 1961
Synthesizer Dr. Robert Arthur Moog 1964
Thermometer Galileo 1593
Theory of Evolution Charles Darwin 1858
Typewriter Christopher Latham Sholes —
Transistors John Bardeen, William Shockley & Walter Brattain 1948
Telephone Graham Bell 1874
Vaccine Edward Jenner 1796
Valve Radio Sir J.A Fleming 1904
Vacuum Cleaner Hubert Cecil Booth 1901
Vitamin A Frederick Gowland Hopkins 1912
Vitamin B Christiaan Eijkman 1897
Vitamin C Albert Szent-Gyorgi –
Vitamin K Henrik Dam 1929
Vitamin E Herbert McLean Evans & Katherine Scott Bishop
Windshield wipers Mary Anderson 1903
World Wide Web Tim Berners Lee with Robert Cailliau  1989
X-ray Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen 1895
Xerox Machine Chester Carlson 1928
SSC CHSL
Study Material For Polity
 CONSTITUTIONAL BODIES
Election Commission
● Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, direction and
control of elections to parliament, state legislatures, the office of president of India and
the office of vice president of India shall be vested in the election commission.
● The Election Commission is a permanent and an independent body established by the
Constitution of India. It ensures free and fair elections in the country.
● The president of India appoints Chief Election Commissioner and other Election
Commissioners. They hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65
years, whichever is earlier.
● The powers and functions of the Election Commission with regard to elections to the
Parliament, state legislatures and offices of President and Vice-President can be classified
into three categories:
o Administrative
o Advisory
o Quasi-Judicial
● It must be noted here that the election commission is not concerned with the elections to
panchayats and municipalities in the states. For this, the Constitution of India provides for a
separate State Election Commission. It conducts elections to Panchayats Bodies and Urban
Local Bodies in accordance with 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.

Union Public Service Commission

● Articles 315 to 323 in Part XIV of the Constitution contain elaborate provisions regarding the
composition, appointment and removal of members along with the independence, powers
and functions of the UPSC.

● A chairman and other members of UPSC appointed by the president of India.

● The chairman and members of the Commission hold office for a term of six years or until
they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

State Public Service Commission

● Articles 315 to 323 in Part XIV of the Constitution deal with the composition, appointment
and removal of members, power and functions and independence of a SPSC.
● A chairman and other members of State Public Service appointed by the governor of the
state. They can be removed only by the president.
● The chairman and members of the Commission hold office for a term of six years or until
they attain the age of 62 years.
● The Constitution makes a provision for the establishment of a Joint State Public Service
 Commission (JSPSC) for two or more states. While the UPSC and the SPSC are created
directly by the Constitution, a JSPSC can be created by an act of Parliament on the request
of the state legislatures concerned.
● Article 315 - Public Service Commissions for the Union and for the states
● Article 316 - Appointment and term of office of members
● Article 317 - Removal and suspension of a member of a Public Service Commission
● Article 320 - Functions of Public Service Commissions

Finance Commission
● Article 280 of the Constitution of India provides for a Finance Commission as a quasi-judicial
body.
● Chairman and four other members of Finance Commission to be appointed by the president.
● It is constituted by the president of India every fifth year or at such earlier time as he
considers necessary.
● The constitution of India envisages the Finance commission as the balancing wheel of fiscal
federalism in India.
● Articles Related to Finance Commission:
o Article 280 - Finance Commission
o Article 281 - Recommendations of the Finance Commission

National Commission for Scheduled Castes

● The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is a constitutional body. It is directly
established by Article 338 of the Constitution.

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

● The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (STs) is a constitutional body. It is directly
established by Article 338-A of the Constitution.

Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities

● Article 350-B of the Constitution, the office of the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities
was created in 1957. He is designated as the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities.

Comptroller and Auditor General of India

● The Constitution of India (Article 148) provides for an independent office of the Comptroller
and Auditor General of India.
● He is the guardian of the public purse and controls the entire financial system of the
country at both the levels—the Centre and the state.
● The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is appointed by the president of India.

Attorney General of India

● The Constitution (Article 76) has provided for the office of the Attorney General for India.
 ● He is the highest law officer in the country.
● The Attorney General of India is appointed by the president. He must be a person who is
qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court.
● He has the right to speak and to take part in the proceedings of both the Houses of
Parliament or their joint sitting and any committee of the Parliament of which he may be
named a member but without a right to vote.
● Article 88 - Rights of Attorney-General as respects the Houses of Parliament and its
Committee

Advocate General for the State

● The Constitution (Article 165) has provided for the office of the advocate general for the
states.
● He is the highest law officer in the state.
● The advocate general of state is appointed by the governor of respective state. He must be a
person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of a high court.
● He has the right to speak and to take part in the proceedings of both the Houses of the state
legislature or any committee of the state legislature of which he may be named a member
but without a right to vote.
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for Chemistry
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GASES, ATOMS AND MOLECULES
Around 500 BC, an Indian Philosopher Maharishi Kanad, first time postulated the concept of
indivisible part of matter and named it ‘pramanu.’
In 1808, John Dalton used the term ‘atom’ and postulated the atomic theory to the study of matter.
Antoine L. Lavoisier laid the foundation of chemical sciences by establishing two important laws of
chemical combination.

Law of Conservation of Mass

● During a chemical reaction, the sum of the masses of the reactants and products remains
unchanged. This is known as the Law of Conservation of Mass

Law of Constant Proportions

● This law was stated by Proust as “In a chemical substance the elements are always present in
definite proportions by mass”. This law is also known as the Law of Definite Proportions.

Dalton’s atomic theory provided an explanation for the law of conservation of mass and the law of
definite proportions. According to Dalton’s atomic theory,
● All matter is made of very tiny particles called atoms, which participate in chemical
reactions.
● Atoms are indivisible particles, which cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.
● Atoms of a given element are identical in mass and chemical properties.
● Atoms of different elements have different masses and chemical properties.
● To form a compound, atoms are combined in the ratio of small whole numbers.
● In a given compound, the relative number and kinds of atoms are constant.

Matter
Our cosmos is made up of matter. The matter is stated as any substance that has mass, takes
volume and may be comprehended by the senses. Exceptions: Heat, electrical energy, light energy,
sound energy, magnetism, vacuum, a shadow is not a matter because it has no mass and does not
take up space.
The matter is composed of small constituent parts. The units of matter are very minute. We cannot
see them even with a high power microscope.
Characteristics of Matter

● The matter is created out of small particles.

● The particles have intermolecular spaces amidst them.
● The particles of matter are locomotive in nature because they have kinetic energy. The
motion of the constituent particles intensifies with a surge in temperature.
● The bits in matter draw each other, but this reciprocal force of pull is operational only when
the particles are very close by to each other. In solids, these units are narrowly crammed,
and hence they have superior intermolecular force attraction although, in gases, the groups
are lightly held. Therefore, they have feeble forces of attractions.

Diffusion
● The intermingling of the particles of two or more materials on their own is called diffusion.
● Diffusion is quicker in gases. The speed of diffusion is different in different gases. Lighter gas
intermingles at a faster speed than denser gases.
● Liquids, as well as solids, undergo dissemination. However, the speed of diffusion in solids is
pretty low. As particles of liquids move slowly, diffusion in liquids is slower than gases.

Factors Affecting Diffusion

1. Density - The rate of diffusion is inversely relative to the mass of liquid or a gas. Greater the
density, the smaller the rate of diffusion.

2. Temperature - The speed of diffusion is directly proportionate to the temperature. As the

temperature increases the kinetic energy of the constituent units upsurges, and they travel with
greater speed resulting in an amplified rate of diffusion.

Classification of Matter
The matter has been characterized into five states by the researchers i.e., solid, liquid, gas, plasma
and Bose-Einstein Condensate. Amid these states, the most familiar states of matter that exist
around us are as solids, liquids and gases.
1. Solid State
● When the particles are packed together firmly, they form solids. In solids, the particles only
vibrate about their fixed positions, since their kinetic energy is low and not sufficient to let
them breakdown away from their common force of the pull. Thus, solids have definite forms,
volumes and are not compressible. That’s why they do not flow or diffuse.
Exceptions

● A rubber band can be strained under force, and it recovers to the same shape when the
force is removed.
● If a similar rubber band is stretched maximum with excessive force, it breaks.
● The sponge is one more example of solid, which has minuscule holes in which the air is
confined.
● When it is squeezed with a hand, the air is ejected out, and it gets compressed.

2. Liquid State
● In liquids, the kinetic energies of the atoms are more than solids, and the atoms are not
fixed to any positions. They move about at will, arbitrarily, all through the liquid. Though,
they do not have sufficient kinetic energy to break out of the borderlines of the liquid form.
That clarifies why liquids do not have fixed shapes and pour or diffuse at will, but they do
have fixed volumes.
● Also, when equated to solids, there are more spaces amongst the atoms of liquids, but not
sufficient to make liquids compressible.

3. Gaseous State
● In gases, the atoms are not crammed together at all, as their kinetic energies are high
enough to let them break free from any boundaries. They are unrestricted to move about in
arbitrary motion. That is why gases have no fixed figure or volume, and they flow and diffuse
readily. They crash into each other, and off the walls of their container. That’s how a gas
applies pressure on its vessel. Also, as the spaces between the atoms are large, gases are
exceedingly compressible.

4. Plasma State
● The fourth state of matter is Plasma. Plasma is comparable to the gaseous state. The state
involves super active and super energized atoms in the form of ionized gases.
● Plasma is created by heating a gas until it loses all its electrons. It is existent in stars. The
plasma is formed in the sun and stars because of very high temperature. The sun and stars
radiate because of the existence of plasma in them.
● The fluorescent tube and neon sign bulbs contain plasma. The gas present inside these bulbs
and tubes is an inert gas. When electricity is passed through them, the gas gets ionized and
charged. This charging up creates a glowing plasma, having a particular colour depending on
the nature of the gas.
5. Bose Einstein Condensates
● The model of BEC was thought of by the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose in 1920 and
was advanced by the theory of BEC. Later Albert Einstein prophesied a new state of matter –
the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC).
● The BEC is created by freezing a gas of tremendously low density. Bose-Einstein condensate
refers to the breakdown of atoms into a single quantum state. It is found at low
temperatures when particles are not incapable of moving.

Atoms
● An atom is the smallest particle of an element that can take part in a chemical reaction.
● Atomic radius is measured in nanometers.
1/109 m = 1 nm
1 m = 109 nm
● Hydrogen atom is smallest atom of all. Atomic radius of hydrogen atom is 0.037 x 10-9

Radii Example

10-10 Atom of hydrogen

10-9 Molecule of water

10-8 Molecule of hemoglobin

10-4 Grain of sand

10-3 Ant

10-1 Apple

Atomic Mass
● Atomic mass is defined as the mass of a single atom of a chemical element.
● It is expressed in atomic mass units (symbol is u).
● The atomic mass is roughly equivalent to the number of protons and neutrons present in the
atom.
● One atomic mass unit is a mass unit equal to exactly one-twelfth (1/12th) the mass of one
atom of carbon-12. The relative atomic masses of all elements have been found with
respect to an atom of carbon-12.

Atomic Mass of Some Elements

Element Atomic mass
Hydrogen 1
Carbon 12
Nitrogen 14
Oxygen 16
Sodium 23
 Magnesium 24
Sulphur 32
Chlorine 35.5
Calcium 40

Molecule
● The smallest particle of an element or a compound, which is capable to exist independently
and shows all the properties of the respective substance.
● A molecule, normally, is a group of two or more atoms which are chemically bonded
together.
● Atoms of the same element or of different elements can join (with chemical bond) together
to form molecules.
● The number of atoms that constitute a molecule is known as its atomicity.
Ion
● A charged particle is known as ion; it could be either negative charge or positive charge.
● The positively charged ion is known as a ‘cation’.
● The negatively charged ion is known as an ‘anion.’

Chemical Formulae
A chemical formula of a compound demonstrations its constituent elements and the number of
atoms of each combining element.

● The chemical formula of a compound is the symbolic representation of its Composition.

● The combining capacity of an element is known as its ‘valency.’

Molecular Mass
● The molecular mass of a substance is calculated by taking the sum of the atomic masses of
all the atoms in a molecule of respective substance. For example, the molecular mass of
water is calculated as –
 o Atomic mass of hydrogen = 1u
o Atomic mass of oxygen = 16 u
● The water contains two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.
● Molecular Mass of Water is = 2 × 1+ 1×16 = 18 u (u is the symbol of molecular mass).

Formula Unit Mass

● The formula unit mass of a substance is calculated by taking the sum of the atomic masses
of all atoms in a formula unit of a compound.

Avogadro Constant
● The Avogadro constant 6.022 × 1023 is defined as the number of atoms in exactly 12 g of
carbon-12.

Structure of An Atom
● By 1900, it was discovered that the atom was not a simple, indivisible particle, but rather it
contains sub-atomic particles.
● J.J. Thomson discovered the sub-atomic particle namely ‘electron.’
● J.J. Thomson was the first one to propose a Model for the structure of an atom.
● In 1886, E. Goldstein discovered the presence of new radiations in a gas discharge and
named them canal rays.
● Another positively charged sub-atomic particle was discovered with experiments of canal
rays and named it proton.

Thomson’s Model of Atom

● An atom consists of a positively charged sphere and the electrons are embedded in it.
● The negative and positive charges are equal in magnitude. So, the atom as a whole is
electrically neutral.

Rutherford’s Atomic Model

● E. Rutherford is popular as the ‘Father’ of nuclear physics.
● Rutherford is largely known for his work on radioactivity and the discovery of the nucleus of
an atom with the gold foil experiment.
● Rutherford’s model of the atom proposed that a very tiny nucleus is present inside the atom
and electrons revolve around this nucleus. The stability of the atom could not be explained
by this model.
According to this model:

● The atom contains large empty space.

● There is a positively charged mass at the centre of the atom, known as nucleus.
 ● The size of the nucleus of an atom is very small compared to the size of an atom.
● The electrons revolve around the nucleus in close circular paths called orbits.
● An atom as a whole is electrically neutral, i.e., the number of protons and electrons in an
atom are equal.

Bohr’s Model of an Atom

Niels Bohr’s model of the atom was more successful. He proposed that electrons are distributed in
different shells with discrete energy around the nucleus. If the atomic shells are complete, then the
atom will be stable and less reactive.
In order to overcome the objections raised against Rutherford’s model of the atom, Niels Bohr put
forward the following postulates about the model of an atom:

● Only certain special orbits known as discrete orbits of electrons, are allowed inside the
atom.
● While revolving in discrete orbits the electrons do not radiate energy.
● These orbits or shells are called energy levels.

Neutrons
● J. Chadwick discovered the neutron.
● Neutrons are present in the nucleus of all atoms, except hydrogen.
● Mass of an atom equal to sum of the masses of protons and neutrons present in the
nucleus.

Electrons Distributed in Different Orbits (Shells)

● Distribution of electrons into different orbits of an atom was suggested by Bohr and Bury.
● Maximum number of electrons present in a shell is given by the formula 2n2
Where n = 1,2,3,4,….
● These orbits or shells are represented by the letters K,L,M,N,…
● The maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in the outermost orbit is 8.
● Electrons are not accommodated in a given shell, unless the inner shells are filled. That is,
the shells are filled in a step-wise manner.
Valence Electrons
● Electrons present in the outermost shell of an atom are known as the valence electrons.
● The elements with same number of electrons in the valence shell show similar properties
and those with different number of valence electrons show different chemical properties.
● Elements, which have 1 or 2 or 3 valence electrons (except Hydrogen), are metals.
● Elements with 4 to 7 electrons in their valence shell are non-metals.

Valency
● Valency of an element is the combining capacity of the element with other elements and is
equal to the number of electrons that take part in a chemical reaction.
● Valency of the elements having valence electrons 1, 2, 3, 4 is 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively.
● Valency of an element with 5, 6 and 7 valence electrons is 3, 2 and 1 (8–valence)
respectively. Because 8 is the number of electrons required by an element to attain stable
electronic configuration.
● Elements having completely filled outermost shell show Zero valency.

Atomic Number
● Atomic number of an element is the same as the number of protons in the nucleus of its
atom.
● Atomic number is denoted by ‘Z’.
● Protons and neutrons collectively are known as nucleons.

Mass Number
● Mass number of an atom is equal to the number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus.
Isotopes
● Two or more forms of an element having the same atomic number, but different mass
number are called Isotopes (17Cl35, 17Cl37).
● For example, Hydrogen atom has three isotopes namely protium, deuterium, and tritium.
● The chemical properties of isotopes of an atom are similar but their physical properties are
different.
● Applications:
o An isotope of uranium is used as a fuel in nuclear reactors.
o An isotope of cobalt is used in the treatment of cancer.
o An isotope of iodine is used in the treatment of goitre.
Isobars
● Atoms of different elements having the same mass number, but different atomic numbers
are called Isobars.
 ● For example, calcium’s atomic number is 20 and argon’s atomic number is 18; further, the
number of electrons in these atoms is different, but the mass number of both these
elements is 40. (18Ar40, 20Ca40).
Isotones
● Atoms of different elements having the same number of neutrons, but different atomic
number and different mass number are called Isotones (6C13, 7N14).
SSC CHSL
Study Material For Polity
 JUDICIARY
Supreme Court
● The Supreme Court of India was inaugurated on January 28, 1950. It succeeded the Federal
Court of India, established under the Government of India Act of 1935.
● The Supreme Court of India has been established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of
India. Articles 124 to 147 of the Constitution lays down the composition and jurisdiction of
the Supreme Court of India.
● Article 124 states the establishment and constitution of supreme court.
● Presently supreme court of 34 judges including chief justice of India.
● Indian Constitution has established an integrated judicial system with the Supreme Court at
the top and the high courts below it.
● The single system of courts adopted from the Government of India Act 1935 enforces both
central and state laws.
● The parliament can increase the number of judges of supreme court of India.
● The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president after ‘consulting’ the Chief
Justice of India (CJI).
● Senior most judge of the Supreme Court is appointed to the office of the chief justice of
India by president of India.
● Supreme court judge holds office until he attains the age of 65 years.
● The judges of the Supreme Court can resign before their term by giving their resignation in
writing to the President. The Parliament also has power to remove the Judges by invoking
impeachment provisions.
● Under Article 124 a person to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court should have the
following qualifications:
o He should be a citizen of India.
o (a) He should have been a judge of a High Court for five years; or
(b) He should have been an advocate of a High Court for ten years; or
(c) He should be a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the president.
● Supreme Court is the guarantor of the fundamental rights of the citizens and guardian of
the Constitution.
● Under Article 130 the Constitution declares Delhi as the seat of the Supreme Court.
● The Supreme Court of India has more powers than any other Supreme Court in any part of
the world.

Jurisdiction and Powers of Supreme Court

The jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court can be classified into the following:
● Original Jurisdiction
● Writ Jurisdiction
● Appellate Jurisdiction
● Advisory Jurisdiction
● A Court of Record
 ● Power of Judicial Review

Original Jurisdiction
● The cases which are brought directly in the first instance to the Supreme Court come under
original jurisdiction.
● The Supreme Court decides the disputes between:
o The Centre and one or more states; or
o The Centre and any state or states on one side and one or more states on the other;
or
o between two or more states
● In the above disputes the Supreme Court has exclusive original jurisdiction.

Writ Jurisdiction
● Every individual has the right to move the supreme court directly by appropriate
proceedings for the enforcement of his fundamental rights through the issuance of writs.

Appellate Jurisdiction
● The Supreme Court is the final appellate court in the country.
● The Supreme Court is primarily a court of appeal and hears appeals against the judgments of
the lower courts.
o Appeals in constitutional matters.
o Appeals in civil matters. (Article 133)
o Appeals in criminal matters. (Article 134)
o Appeals by special leave (Article 136)

Advisory Jurisdiction
● The Constitution (Article 143) authorizes the president to seek the opinion of the Supreme
Court. It is duly bound to give its opinion, which is not binding on president.

Court Of Record
As a court of record, Supreme court has two powers:
● Judgments, Proceedings and acts of supreme court are recorded for perpetual memory and
testimony.
● It can punish for contempt of court.

Power Of Judicial Review

● Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court to examine the constitutionality of
legislative enactments and executive orders of both the Central and state governments.
● On examination, if they are found to be violative of the Constitution they can be declared as
illegal, unconstitutional and invalid by the Supreme Court.
● Some of the famous cases in which supreme court used the power of judicial review are:
o Golakanath case (1967)
 o Bank Nationalization case (1970)
o Privy purse Abolition case (1971)
o Keshavananda Bharati case (1973)
o Minera mills case (1980)

Rights of the Supreme Court

● The two most important rights of Judiciary are –
o It can restore fundamental rights by issuing writs of Habeas Corpus; mandamus etc.
under Article 32 of the Constitution and the same action can be taken by the High
Courts as well under the Article 226 of Constitution.
o Under Article 13 of the Constitution - the Supreme Court can declare the concerned
law as unconstitutional and therefore non-operational.
● The Judicial Review (JR) is one of the most important powers of the Supreme Court.
● Judicial Review means the power of the Supreme Court to examine the constitutionality of
any law; so, if the Court arrives at the conclusion that the aforesaid law is inconsistent with
the provisions of the Constitution, such a law is declared as unconstitutional and
inapplicable.
● The Supreme Court (and the High Courts) has the power to check the Constitutional validity
of any legislation or action of the executive, when it is challenged before them. This power
is called judicial review.
● The Supreme Court of India also guards the Constitution against any change in its basic
principles by the Parliament.
● The independence and powers exercised by the Indian judiciary in India make the Supreme
Court to act as the guardian of the Fundamental Rights.
● The Indian Constitution is based on a subtle principle of limited separation of powers and
checks and balances, which means - each organ of the government has a clear area of
functioning. For example,
o The Parliament is supreme in making laws and amending the Constitution;
o The Executive is supreme in implementing the laws; and
o The judiciary is supreme in settling disputes and deciding whether the laws that have
been made are in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
● In a landmark judgment of Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), the Supreme Court ruled that
there is a ‘Basic Structure’ of the Constitution and nobody — not even the Parliament
(through amendment)— can violate the basic structure.
● In Kesavananda Bharati case, the Supreme Court did two things –
o It said that right to property was not part of the basic structure and therefore could
be suitably amended.
o The Court reserved to itself the right to decide whether various matters are part of
the basic structure of the Constitution.

High Court
● The high court operates below the Supreme Court but above the subordinate courts.
● Presently there are 25 high courts in the country. Out of them, four are common high
courts. Delhi is the only union territory that has a own high court.
● The Constitution of India provides for a high court for each state, but the Seventh
Amendment Act of 1956 authorised the Parliament to establish a common high court for
two or more states or for two or more states and a union territory.
● The judges of a high court are appointed by the President. The chief justice is appointed by
the President after consultation with the chief justice of India and the governor of the
respective state.
● The judges of a high court hold office until he attains the age of 62 years.
● The President can transfer a judge from one high court to another after consulting the Chief
Justice of India.
● Parliament can extend the jurisdiction of a High Court.
● Under Article 226 of the constitution, the High Courts are given powers of issuing writs not
only for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights, but also for other purposes. In exercise
of this power, a Court may issue the same type of writs, orders or directions which the
Supreme Court is empowered to issue under Article 32.
SSC CHSL
Study Material For History
 MEDIEVAL INDIA

● Medieval Period of the Indian History is the period from the beginning of the Eight Century
to the end of Eighteenth Century.
● The time period between the end of Gupta Period and the early Invasions in Medieval Period
saw many smaller kingdoms struggling for Prominence especially in North India. However,
many Kingdoms didn’t retain superiority for long.
● Notable kingdoms during the early Medieval Period are:
o Rashtrakutas
o Pratiharas
o Palas
o Rajputs in North
o Cholas in South
● Struggle for kannauj or Tripartite Struggle is a notable struggle for control over Kannauj by
the three Kingdoms - Rashtrakutas, Pratiharas and Palas.
● Notable King of the Rashtrakutas Dynasty is Amoghavarsha.
● Notable King of the Pratiharas Dynasty is Bhoja.
● King Bhoja adopted a title “Adivaraha”.
● Chalukyas rose to power primarily at the Central India after decline of these above
mentioned three kingdoms after a span of 100 Years.
● Chalukyas Dynasty was established by Pulakeshin – I
● Badami in Karnataka is the Capital of Chalukya Dynasty.
● Another notable King of the Chalukya Dynasty was Vikramaditya - I who defeated Cholas,
Pallavas and Pandyas and gained supremacy of the empire in the region.
● Another important event which took place in early medieval period is the Prophet
Mohammed Preached the new Religion of Islam in the 7th Century AD.
● Other Important Kingdoms of the same period are:
o Chandelas in the Bundelkhand
o Chahamana Dynasty
o Tomaras
● An Important Powerful King of this period is Prithviraj Chauhan III.
● Chola Dynasty ruled major parts of south India for almost 400 Years (9th Century to 13th
Century).
● Rajaraja is the notable Powerful ruler of the Chola Dynasty.
● The famous Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur is built by King Rajaraja.
● Sri Lanka was also captured by the Chola King Rajaraja after defeating Anuradhapura
Kingdom and later established itself in most part of the Island during the reign of Rajendra
Chola Son of Rajaraja.
● Last ruler of the Chola Dynasty is Rajendra III.
● Mohammed Ghazni and Mohammed Ghori are the two earlier invaders of early medieval
Period.
● Ghazni was a small kingdom in Afghanistan found by the Turkish Noblemen in tenth Century.
● One of the successors the Ghazni Kingdom, Mohammed wanted to make Ghazni famous and
 wanted to establish the kingdom in part of Central Asia for which he required huge money to
maintain a Powerful Army, he learnt that India was a rich country and therefore decided to
conquer India for wealth.
● In a span of 25 Years Mohammed made seventeen raids on India. First raid by Muhammad
on India was in 1000 AD
● Mohammed has destroyed the Somnath Temple in Western India in search of Gold and
Money.
● Chauhan Dynasty ruler Prithviraj was defeated by Mohammed Ghori in the second Battle of
Tarain,
● Shah Namah which is the national epic of Greater Iran is a poem written by a Persian Poet
Firdausi

Slave Dynasty
● The Delhi Sultanate began with the Slave Dynasty who ruled India after the death of
Mohammad Ghori.
● Slave Dynasty: Qutb-ud-din Aibak is the first king of the slave dynasty, who was also the
General of Mohammad Ghori.
● Sultanate faced problems from the frequent conquests of Mongol People let by Chneghiz
Khan.
● Sultanate was ruled by Raziya Sultana after the death of Illtutmish, who was the third sultan
of Delhi after Arom Shah, Son of Qutb Ud din Aibak, was assassinated by him in the battle of
Jud.
● Another notable and one of the last rulers of Slave Dynasty is Balban.
● The practice of ‘Sijdah’ was implemented by Balban. Sijdah is to kneel and touch the ground
with their forehead in salutation to Balban.

Khilji Dynasty (1290-1320)

● Jalal Ud Din Firuz Khilji is the founder of Khilji Dynasty.
● Notable Ruler of the Khilji Dynasty is Allauddin Khilji who was the nephew and son in law of
Jalal ud din Khilji.
● Allauddin Khilji self-styled himself as the second Alexander and was very ambitious in
conquering the world.
● Allauddin Khilji has sent his Slave General, Malik Kafur to the Southern peninsula to conquer
and obtain gold and money for the Kingdom.
● Malik Kafur has conquered Madurai giving him the credit of first north Indian ruler to
penetrate so far in the south India.
● Many Khiljis succeeded Allauddin Khilji but no one sustained power for long which led to the
rise of a new Dynasty called Tuglaq Dynasty.

Tuglaq Dynasty (1320 - 1413)

● Ghazi Malik is the first ruler of the Tuglaq Dynasty.
● Notable ruler of the Tuglaq Dynasty was Muhammad Bin Tughlaq.
● The famine in Daob Region which was a major source of revenue collection worsened the
condition of the dynasty.
● Capital of Delhi is moved to Devagiri - renamed as Daulatabad under the reign of
Muhammad bin Tuglaq.
● Firoz Shah Tuglaq, successor of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq started the Yamuna Canal and he
 was the last know powerful ruler of the Tuglaq Dynasty which led the rise of a new Dynasty
Sayyid Dynasty.

Sayyid Dynasty (1413-1451)

● Khizr Khan is the founder of Sayyid Dynasty (1414-1421).
● The last sultan of Sayyid Dynasty was Allauddin Alam Shah who ruled till 1451
● Allauddin Alam Shah was defeated by Bahlul Lodi which led to the rising of Lodi Dynasty

Lodi Dynasty (1451-1526)

● Lodi Dynasty was founded by Bahlul Lodi who ruled the sultanate from 1451-1489.
● An Important ruler of this dynasty is Sikandar Lodi who self-styled himself as the Sikandar
Shah.
● Agra City was founded by Sikandar Lodi in 1504 and moved the capital from Delhi to Agra.
● Ibrahim Lodi was the Last ruler of the Lodi Dynasty who was defeated by Babar in 1526 in
the first battle of Panipat which led to the rise of Mughal Empire.

Late Medieval Period started with the beginning of Mughal Empire.

Mughal Empire
● Babur was the founder of Mughal Empire in 1526.
● Battle of Khanwa was fought between first Mughal Emperor and Rajput Ruler Rana Sanga.
● Babur also conquered Forts of Gwalior, Dholpur etc.
● Babur was a descendant of two of the most legendary warriors of Asia - Chenghez Khan and
Timur.
● Tuzuk-i-Baburi is considered one of the important classics of World Literature is the memoir
of Babur.

Humayun (Second Ruler of the Mughal Empire 1530 – 1556)

● Humayun is the Son of Babur.
● Humayun defeated the Afghans in 1532 who Conquered Bihar and Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.
● Chunar Fort located in Mirzapur District of Uttar Pradesh is often referred to as the Gateway
of the Eastern India during the Mughal Period.
● Dinpanah an ancient city near to Delhi was developed by Humayun during his reign.
● Humayun defeated and killed Tatar Khan, a cousin of Ibrahim Lodi, who was supplied Arms
by Bahadur Shah to conquer Agra.
● “Gaur” or “Gauda” the capital of Bengal in the Medieval Period was invaded by Humayun.
● The Battle of Chausa was fought between Mughal Emperor Humayun and Afghan Ruler Sher
Shah Suri in 1539 at Chausa, 10 Kms away from Buxar where Humayun was defeated.
● Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun at the Battle of Kanauj in 1540 which ended the empire of
Humayun.
● Humayun regained the kingdom back in 1555 however he didn’t live long.
● Humayun died after falling from the First Floor of the Library Building in his fort at Delhi.
● Tomb of Humayun was built at the Order of Akbar.
● Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, a Persian Architect designed the tomb of Humayun.

Sur Empire (1540-1555)

● Sur Empire was founded by the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri.
 ● The Patron of Sher shah has adorned him the title of “Sher Khan” after Sher Shah killed a
Tiger.
● Battle of Sammel is fought between Rajputs and the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri. Sher Shah
conquered Ajmer and Jodhpur.
● Islam Shah ruled the Sur empire after the death of his father Sher Shah Suri in 1545.
● Abbas Khan Sarwani wrote the “Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi” – History of Sher Shah.
● Sher Shah built “Sarai” for the convenience of the Travelers at a distance of 8 Kms on all
major Roads. Sarai is a lodging or an inn where travelers could pass the night and keep their
goods in safe custody.
● The Poem Padmavat was written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi who was an Indian Sufi Poet
was a notable patron of the Sher Shah.

Akbar Rule
● Akbar was crowned at Kalanaur at the age of 13 Years in 1556 after the death of his father
Humayun.
● Khan I Khanan is the title given to the Tutor of Prince Akbar, Bairam Khan, who later became
the Advocate of the Kingdom.
● Hemu was a Hindu general under Adil Shah Suri was appointed as Wazir and given the title
“Vikramjit”. Hemu was considered a threat to Akbar.
● Second Battle of Panipat was fought between Mughals (Led by Bairam Khan) and Afghan
Forces (Led by Hemu).
● Akbar Introduced a new Land measurement system known as Zabti System.
● The process of dividing produce among peasants and state on a proportionate basis – Batai
System was introduced by Akbar.
● The top most administrative unit in the Akbar’s administration was called Subhah.
● Paragana was a collective administrative unit of few villages.
● Sarkar was a collective administrative unit of few Paraganas.
● The chief officer of Subhah was called subedar.
● Akbar abolished the Jizyah which was used by the nobles sometimes to humiliate
non-Muslims. Jizyah is a tax collected only from non-Muslim.
● Battle of Haldighati was fought between Rana Pratap and Mughals led by Man Singh.
● Contemporary popular saints Chaitanya, Kabir and Nanak belonged to this period.
● Abul Fazal and his Brother Faizi were notable scholars of the time of Akbar reign.
● The most trustworthy nobles of the Akbar court are Mahesh Das and Raja Birbal.
● Ibadat Khana or the hall of prayer was built by Akbar in the new capital of Fatehpur Sikri.
● Akbar stopped the practice of Sati and Legalized Widow Remarriage.
● Battle of Bannihatti was was fought between Vijayanagara Empire and Deccan Sultanates.
● Akbar died in 1605 and by 1610 most of the kingdoms won by Akbar were lost.
● Shah Jahan ascended to the thrown in 1627.
● The architect of Gol Gumbaz was Yakut of Dabul.
● Nur Jahan was married to Jahangir in 1611.
● Shah Jahan has killed his elder brother Khusrau and spread the news that he died due to
abdomen pain.
● The Lal Qila or the red fort was built by Shah Jahan.
● Agra Fort was built by Akbar.
● Buland Dawaza was built in 1576 at Fatehpur Sikri to commemorate Akbar’s victory in
Gujarat.
● Jaswant and Dasawan were the famous painters of the Akbar’s Court.
 ● Utbi and Naziri were two other leading Persian poets of the Mughal era along with Abul
Fazal and Faizai.
● Akbar patronized Miyan Tansen, a great musician of the Gwalior.
● Fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Das completed the compilation of Sikh Scriptures.
● Guru Arjan Das was killed by Jahangir.
● Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan got the Gita translated into Persian.
● Battle of Samugarh and Battle of Deorai were fought between Dara and the Mughal Emperor
Aurangazeb.
● The longest ruling Mughal Emperor was Aurangazeb for almost 50 Years.
● There were not many notable rulers in the Mughal Empire after Aurangazeb.
● The last Emperor of the Mughal Empire was Bahadur Shah II 1837- 1857.

Marathas
● Marathas was another important kingdom. Shivaji the son of Shahji Bhonsale is credited
with defeating the Mughals and considered the Kingmaker of Ahmednagar.
● Treaty of Purandar was signed between Rajput ruler Jai Singh- I who was the commander of
the Mughals and Chhatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj.
● Shivaji has assumed the title of “Haindava Dharmoddhaarak”.

Timeline of Events in Medieval History

YEAR EVENT
712 AD Sindh invaded by Arabs (Mohd. Bin Qasim) for the first time.
836 AD King Bhoja became the king of Kannauj.
985 AD Rajaraja became the King of the Chola Empire.
998 AD Mahmud Ghazni became the Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire.
1001 AD Mahmud Ghazni’s first invasion of India during which he defeated Jaipal, ruler of Punjab.
1025 AD Somnath Temple destroyed by Mahmud Ghazni.
1191 AD The first battle of Tarain was fought between Prithviraj Chauhan and Mahmud Ghori.
Prithviraj Chauhan won the battle
1192 AD Second battle of Tarain was fought in which Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated
1206 AD Qutubuddin Aibak became the ruler of Delhi.
1210 AD Qutubuddin Aibak died.
1221 AD Mongol invasion of India under Chengiz Khan.
1236 AD Razia Sultana ascended the throne of Delhi.
1240 AD Razia Sultana’s death.
1296 AD Alauddin Khilji became the Sultan of Delhi.
1316 AD Alauddin Khilji died.
1325 AD Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq overtook the Throne of Delhi Sultanate.
1327 AD Muhammad-in-Tughlaq transferred the capital of his empire from Delhi to Devagiri
(Daulatabad) in Deccan
1336 AD Vijaynagar empire was founded by 2 brothers – Harihar and Bukka.
1351 AD Firoz Shah Tughlaq succeeded Muhammad bin Tughlaq to the Delhi Throne.
1398 AD Timur’s invaded India.
1469 AD Birth of Sant Guru Nanak.
1494 AD Babur became the ruler of Farghana.
1497–98 Vasco di Gama reached India
AD
1526 AD Mughal Dynasty was founded by Babur when he defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in the First
Battle of Panipat.
1527 AD Rana Sanga was defeated by Babur in the Battle of Khanwa.
1530 AD Humayun ascended to the Mughal throne after Babur’s death.
1539 AD Battle of Chausa – Humayun defeated by Sher Shah Suri who became India’s emperor.
1555 AD Humayun recaptured Delhi by ending the Sur Empire
1556 AD Second Battle of Panipat between Bairam Khan and Hemu, where Hemu was defeated
1556 AD Battle of Talikota (Rakshasa-Tangadi) fought between Vijaynagar and the combined army
of Sultans of Bijapur, Bidar, Ahmadnagar, and Golconda.
1576 AD Akbar defeated Maharana Pratap in the Battle of Haldighati.
1582 AD Akbar founded Din-i-Ilahi.
1600 AD English East India Company established.
1605 AD Death of Akbar followed by Jahangir’s accession to the Mughal Throne.
1606 AD Sikhs 5th Guru – Guru Arjun Dev, was executed by Jahangir
1615 AD Sir Thomas Roe the British Official visited the court of Jahangir.
1627 AD Shivaji was Born
1628 AD Shahjahan ascended to the Mughal Throne to become the emperor of India.
1634 AD The English permitted to trade in India (in Bengal).
1659 AD Aurangzeb captured the Mughal Throne and imprisoned Shahjahan.
1665 AD Aurangzeb captured Shivaji when he visited the Mughal Court.
1666 AD Death of Shahjahan.
1675 AD The 9th Guru of Sikhs – Guru Teg Bahadur was executed by Aurangzeb.
1680 AD Death of Shivaji.
1707 AD Aurangzeb in Deccan.
1708 AD Death of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of Sikhs.
1739 AD North India Invaded by Nadir Shah the ruler of Iran
1757 AD Battle of Plassey in which Britsih under Robert Clive defeated the Bengal Ruler – Siraj ud
daula and laid the foundation of British rule in India
1761 AD The third battle of Panipat fought between Maratha and Ahmedshah Abdali. Maratha’s
lost the battle
SSC CHSL
Study Material For Geography
 MAJOR RIVERS, LAKES & PORTS – INDIA & WORLD
Important Rivers of the World – Facts
● The Congo River (former name – Zaire River) crosses the Equator twice.
● The river Limpopo crosses the Tropic of Capricorn twice.
● The river Hwang He or the Yellow River is known as China’s sorrow.
● The river Nile begins south of the Equator, crosses the Tropic of Cancer and then empties
into the sea.
● The river Amazon throughout its entire length does not have any bridges across it.
● Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar are the countries which do not have any rivers
flowing through them.
● River Danube flows through 4 capital cities, Belgrade (Serbia), Budapest (Hungary), Bratislava
(Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria). Also, it flows through ten countries namely Austria, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Longest Rivers of The World

Length
River Names Outflow Countries Sharing Drainage Basin
(km)
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda,
Nile– White-Nile –Kagera
Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi,
–Nyabarongo –Mwogo 7,088 Mediterranean
Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the
–Rukarara
Congo, South Sudan
Amazon–Ucayali–Tambo–En Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,
6,992 Atlantic Ocean
e–Mantaro Venezuela, Guyana
Yangtze
6,418 East China Sea China
(Chang Jiang; Long River)
Mississippi–Missouri–Jeffers
on–Beaverhead–Red 6,275 Gulf of Mexico United States (98.5%), Canada (1.5%)
Rock–Hell Roaring
Yenisei–Angara–Selenge–Ide
5,539 Kara Sea Russia (97%), Mongolia (2.9%)
r
Yellow River
5,464 Bohai Sea China
(Huang He)
Ob–Irtysh 5,410 Gulf of Ob Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia
Brazil (46.7%), Argentina (27.7%),
Río de la Plata–Paraná–Rio
4,880 Río de la Plata Paraguay (13.5%), Bolivia (8.3%),
Grande
Uruguay (3.8%)
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Congo–Chambeshi Central African Republic, Angola,
4,700 Atlantic Ocean
(Zaïre) Republic of the Congo, Tanzania,
Cameroon, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda
Amur–Argun–Kherlen
4,444 Sea of Okhotsk Russia, China, Mongolia
(Heilong Jiang)
Lena 4,400 Laptev Sea Russia
Mekong China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,
4,350 South China Sea
(Lancang Jiang) Cambodia, Vietnam
Mackenzie–Slave–Peace–Fin
4,241 Beaufort Sea Canada
lay
Nigeria (26.6%), Mali (25.6%), Niger
(23.6%), Algeria (7.6%), Guinea (4.5%),
Niger 4,200 Gulf of Guinea
Cameroon (4.2%), Burkina Faso (3.9%),
Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Chad
India (58.0%), China (19.7%), Nepal
Brahmaputra–Tsangpo 3,848 Ganges (9.0%), Bangladesh (6.6%), Disputed
India/China (4.2%), Bhutan (2.4%)
Murray–Darling–Culgoa–Bal
3,672 Southern Ocean Australia
onne–Condamine
Atlantic Ocean,
Tocantins–Araguaia 3,650 Brazil
Amazon
Volga 3,645 Caspian Sea Russia

Indus–Sênggê Zangbo 3,610 Arabian Sea Pakistan (93%), India and China
Shatt Iraq (60.5%), Turkey (24.8%), Syria
3,596 Persian Gulf
al-Arab–Euphrates–Murat (14.7%)
Madeira–Mamoré–Grande–
3,380 Amazon Brazil, Bolivia, Peru
Caine–Rocha
Purús 3,211 Amazon Brazil, Peru

Yukon 3,185 Bering Sea United States (59.8%), Canada (40.2%)

São Francisco 3,180 Atlantic Ocean Brazil

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,
Syr Darya–Naryn 3,078 Aral Sea
Tajikistan
Salween China (52.4%), Myanmar (43.9%),
3,060 Andaman Sea
(Nu Jiang) Thailand (3.7%)
Saint
Lawrence–Niagara–Detroit–
Gulf of Saint
Saint Clair–Saint 3,058 Canada (52.1%), United States (47.9%)
Lawrence
Marys–Saint Louis–North
(Great Lakes)
Rio Grande 3,057 Gulf of Mexico United States (52.1%), Mexico (47.9%)

Lower Tunguska 2,989 Yenisei Russia

Danube–Breg (Donau, Romania (28.9%), Hungary (11.7%),
Dunăre, Duna, Dunav, 2,888 Black Sea Austria (10.3%), Serbia (10.3%),
Dunaj) Germany (7.5%), Slovakia (5.8%),
 Bulgaria (5.2%), Croatia (4.5%), Ukraine
(3.8%)
Irrawaddy River–N’Mai
River–Dulong 2,727 Andaman Sea China, Myanmar
River–Kelaoluo–Gada Qu
Zambia (41.6%), Angola (18.4%),
Zambezi Mozambique Zimbabwe (15.6%), Mozambique
2,693
(Zambesi) Channel (11.8%), Malawi (8.0%), Tanzania
(2.0%), Namibia, Botswana
Vilyuy 2,650 Lena Russia

Araguaia 2,627 Tocantins Brazil

Ganges–Hooghly–Padma
2,620 Bay of Bengal India, Bangladesh, Nepal
(Ganga)
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan,
Amu Darya–Panj 2,620 Aral Sea
Afghanistan
Japurá (Rio Yapurá) 2,615 Amazon Brazil, Colombia

Nelson–Saskatchewan 2,570 Hudson Bay Canada, United States

Paraguay (Río-Paraguay) 2,549 Paraná Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina

East Siberian
Kolyma 2,513 Russia
Sea
Pilcomayo 2,500 Paraguay Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia

Upper Ob–Katun 2,490 Ob Russia

Ishim 2,450 Irtysh Kazakhstan, Russia

Juruá 2,410 Amazon Peru, Brazil

Ural 2,428 Caspian Sea Russia, Kazakhstan

Arkansas 2,348 Mississippi United States

Gulf of
Colorado (western U.S.) 2,333 United States, Mexico
California
Olenyok 2,292 Laptev Sea Russia

Dnieper 2,287 Black Sea Russia, Belarus, Ukraine

Aldan 2,273 Lena Russia

Major Indian River Systems
Most of the rivers discharge their waters into the Bay of Bengal. Some of the rivers flow through the
western part of the country and merges into the Arabian Sea. The northern parts of the Aravalli
range, some parts of Ladakh, and arid regions of the Thar Desert have inland drainage. All major
rivers of India originate from one of the three main watersheds:
● The Himalaya and the Karakoram range
● The Chota Nagpur plateau and Vindhya and Satpura range
● The Western Ghats

Indian River Systems

River System Total length Length in India
Indus River System 3180 km 1114 km
Brahmaputra River System 2900 km 916 km
Ganga River System 2510 km 2510 km
Yamuna river System 1376 km 1376 km
Narmada River System 1312 km 1312 km
Tapi River System 724 km 724 km
Godavari River System 1465 km 1465 km
Krishna River System 1400 km 1400 km
Cauvery River System 805 km 805 km
Mahanadi River System 851 km 851 km

Major River System – The Indus River System

The Indus arises from the northern slopes of the Kailash range in Tibet near Lake Mansarovar.
● It has a large number of tributaries in both India and Pakistan and has a total length of about
2897 km from the source to the point near Karachi where it falls into the Arabian Sea out of
which approx 700km lies in India.
● It enters the Indian Territory in Jammu and Kashmir by forming a picturesque gorge.
● In the Kashmir region, it joins with many tributaries – the Zaskar, the Shyok, the Nubra and
the Hunza.
● It flows between the Ladakh Range and the Zaskar Range at Leh.
● It crosses the Himalayas through a 5181 m deep gorge near Attock, which is lying north of
Nanga Parbat.
● The major tributaries of the Indus River in India are Jhelum, Ravi, Chenab, Beas, and
Sutlej.

Major River System – The Brahmaputra River System

The Brahmaputra originates from Mansarovar Lake, which is also a source of the Indus and Sutlej.
● It is 3848kms long, a little longer than the Indus River.
● Most of its course lies outside India.
 ● It flows parallel to the Himalayas in the eastward direction. When it reaches Namcha Barwa,
it takes a U-turn around it and enters India in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
● Here it is known as the Dihang River. In India, it flows through the states of Arunachal
Pradesh and Assam and is connected by several tributaries.
● The Brahmaputra has a braided channel throughout most of its length in Assam.
● The river is known as the Tsangpo in Tibet. It receives less volume of water and has less silt
in the Tibet region.
● But in India, the river passes through a region of heavy precipitation, and as such, the river
carries large amounts of water during rainfall and a significant amount of silt.
● It is considered one of the largest rivers in India in terms of Volume. It is known for creating
the calamity in Assam and Bangladesh.

Major River System – Ganga River System

● The Ganga originates as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri glacier.
● Before it reaches Devprayag in the Garhwal Division, the Mandakini, Pindar, the Dhauliganga
and the Bishenganga rivers merge into the Alaknanda and the Bheling drain into the
Bhagirathi.
● The Pindar River rises from East Trishul and Nanda Devi unite with the Alaknanda at Karan
Prayag. The Mandakini meets at Rudraprayag.
● The water from both Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda flows in the name of the Ganga at
Devprayag.

The concept of Panch Prayag

1. Vishnuprayag: where the river Alaknanda meets river Dhauli Ganga

2. Nandprayag: where river Alaknanda meets river Nandakini
3. Karnaprayag: where river Alaknanda meets river Pinder
4. Rudraprayag: where river Alaknanda meets river Mandakini
5. Devprayag: where river Alaknanda meets river Bhagirathi -GANGA

The principal tributaries of the Ganga are Yamuna, Damodar, Sapta Kosi, Ram Ganga, Gomati,
Ghaghara, and Son. The river after travelling a distance of 2525 km from its source meets the Bay
of Bengal.

Yamuna River System

● The Yamuna River is the largest tributary of the Ganga River.
● It originates from the Yamunotri glacier, at the Bandarpoonch peak in Uttarakhand.
● The main tributaries joining the river include the Sin, Hindon, Betwa Ken, and Chambal.
● The Tons is the largest tributary of the Yamuna.
● The catchment of the river extends to the states of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.

The Narmada River System

● The Narmada is a river located in central India.

 ● It rises to the summit of the Amarkantak Hill in Madhya Pradesh state.
● It outlines the traditional frontier between North India and South India.
● It is one of the major rivers of peninsular India. Only the Narmada, the Tapti, and the Mahi
rivers run from east to west.
● The river flows through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
● It drains into the Arabian Sea in the Bharuch district of Gujarat.

The Tapi River System

● It is a central Indian river. It is one of the most important rivers of peninsular India with the
run from east to west.
● It originates in the Eastern Satpura Range of southern Madhya Pradesh state.
● It flows in a westward direction, draining some important historic places like Madhya
Pradesh’s Nimar region, East Vidarbha region and Maharashtra’s Khandesh in the northwest
corner of the Deccan Plateau and South Gujarat before draining into the Gulf of Cambay of
the Arabian Sea.
● The River Basin of Tapi River lies mostly in eastern and northern districts Maharashtra state.
● The river also covers some districts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat as well.
● The principal tributaries of Tapi River are Waghur River, Aner River, Girna River, Purna
River, Panzara River and Bori River.

The Godavari River System

● The Godavari River is the second-longest course in India with brownish water.
● The river is often referred to as the Dakshin (South) Ganga or Vriddh (Old) Ganga.
● It is a seasonal river, dried during the summers, and widens during the monsoons.
● This river originates from Trimbakeshwar, near Nasik in Maharashtra.
● It flows southeast across south-central India through the states of Madhya Pradesh,
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa, and drains into the Bay of Bengal.
● The river forms a fertile delta at Rajahmundry.
● The banks of this river have many pilgrimage sites, Nasik (MH), Bhadrachalam (TS), and
Trimbak. Some of its tributaries include Pranahita (Combination of Penuganga and Warda),
Indravati River, Bindusara, Sabari, and Manjira.
● Asia’s largest rail-cum-road bridge which links Kovvur and Rajahmundry is located on the
river Godavari.

The Krishna River System

● Krishna is one of the longest rivers of India, which originates from Mahabaleshwar in
Maharashtra.
● It flows through Sangli and drains the sea in the Bay of Bengal.
● The river flows through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh.
● Tungabhadra River is the main tributary which itself is formed by the Tunga and Bhadra
rivers that originate in the Western Ghats.
● Dudhganga Rivers, Koyna, Bhima, Mallaprabha, Dindi, Ghataprabha, Warna, Yerla, and Musi
are some of the other tributaries.
The Cauvery River System

● The Cauvery is also known as Dakshin Ganga.

● It originates from Talakaveri located in the Western Ghats.
● It is a famous pilgrimage and tourist place in the Kodagu district of Karnataka.
● The headwaters of the river are in the Western Ghats range of Karnataka state, and from
Karnataka through Tamil Nadu.
● The river drains into the Bay of Bengal. The river supports irrigation for agriculture and is
considered as a means of support of the ancient kingdoms and modern cities of South India.
● The river has many tributaries called Arkavathy, Shimsha, Hemavati, Kapila, Shimsha,
Honnuhole, Amaravati, Lakshmana Kabini, Lokapavani, Bhavani, Noyyal, and Tirtha.

The Mahanadi River System

● The Mahanadi originates from the Satpura Range of central India and it is a river in eastern
India.
● It flows east to the Bay of Bengal. The river drains of the state of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, and Orissa.
● The largest dam, the Hirakud Dam is built on the river.

Major Lakes in India

Important Facts about Lakes
● Wular lake is one of the biggest freshwater lakes in Asia and it was formed as a result of
tectonic activity.
● Chilika Lake in Odisha is the largest saline water lake in India.
● Vembanad Lake in Kerala is the longest lake in India.
● Cholamu Lake in Sikkim is the highest lake in India.
● Lonar Lake is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument, saline, soda lake, located at Lonar
in Buldhana district, Maharashtra.

Top 10 largest Lakes in India

List of largest Lakes (Decreasing order of area covered) State/UT
Vembanad Lake Kerala
Chilika Lake Odisha
Shivaji Sagar Lake Maharashtra
Indira Sagar lake Madhya Pradesh
Pangong Lake Ladakh
Pulicat Lake Andhra Pradesh
Sardar Sarovar Lake Gujarat
Nagarjuna Sagar Lake Telangana
Loktak Lake Manipur
Wular lake Jammu and Kashmir
List of Important Lakes in India
Lakes in India State/UT
Pulicat lake Andhra Pradesh
Kolleru Lake Andhra Pradesh
Haflong Lake Assam
Deepor Beel Assam
Chandubi Lake Assam
Kanwar lake Bihar
Hamirsar Lake Gujarat
Kankaria Lake Gujarat
Badkhal Lake Haryana
Brahma Sarovar Haryana
Chandra Taal Himachal Pradesh
MaharanaPratap Sagar Himachal Pradesh
Dal Lake Jammu Kashmir
Wular Lake Jammu Kashmir
Agara Lake Karnataka
Ulsoor Lake Karnataka
Kuttanad Lake Kerala
Sasthamkotta Kerala
Bhojtal Madhya Pradesh
Shivsagar Maharashtra
Loktak lake Manipur
Umiam Lake Meghalaya
Tam Dil Mizoram
Chilika Lake Odisha
Harike Punjab
Kanjli Punjab
Sambhar Lake Rajasthan
Tsomgo Lake Sikkim
Chembarambakkam Tamil Nadu
Hussain Sagar Telangana
Govind Bhallabh Pant Sagar Uttar Pradesh
Belasagar Uttar Pradesh
Bhimtal Uttarakhand
Kaliveli Tamil Nadu

Major Ports in India

All ports in India are situated in the 9 coastal states of India namely Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Goa, Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. India’s extended coastline
forms one of the major portions of land that juts out into a water body. Thirteen major ports in the
country handle a lot of volume of container and cargo traffic.
On the west coast, there are the ports of Mumbai, Kandla, Mangalore, JNPT, Mormugao, and
Cochin. The ones on the east coast are the ports at Chennai, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam, Paradip,
Kolkata, and Ennore. The last one, Ennore is a registered public company with the government
owning a 68% stake. In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, there is Port Blair. Mumbai is the largest
natural port in India.

Zone State Port Features

Artificial Port
Eastern Coast Tamil Nadu Chennai
Second busiest port
Sited in the Vembanad lake
Western Coast Kerala Kochi
Exports of spices and salts
Eastern Coast Tamil Nadu Ennore India’s First corporatized port
India’s only major Riverine port
Eastern Coast West Bengal Kolkata Situated on Hugli river
Known as Diamond Harbour
Known as Tidal Port
Acknowledged as Trade Free Zone
Western Coast Gujarat Kandla
Largest port by volume of cargo
handled.
Western Coast Karnataka Mangalore Deals with the iron ore exports
Situated on the estuary of the river
Western Coast Goa Mormugao
Zuari
Largest Natural Port and harbour
Western Coast Maharashtra Mumbai Port Trust In India
The busiest port in India
Jawaharlal Nehru
Port Trust (JNPT)  Largest Artificial Port
Western Coast Maharashtra also known as It is the Largest Container Port in
Nhava Sheva, Navi India.
Mumbai
Natural Harbor
Eastern Coast Odisha Paradip deals with the export of iron and
aluminium
A major port in south India
Eastern Coast Tamil Nadu Tuticorin deals with the fertilizers and
petrochemical products
Deepest port of India
Eastern Coast Andhra Pradesh Visakhapatnam
deals with the export of iron ore to
Japan. Amenities for building and
fixing of ships are available
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for Physics
 FORCE AND LAWS OF MOTION
Force
 In science, a push or a pull on an object with mass that causes it to change velocity is called a
force. Force has magnitude as well as direction.
 Force acting on an object may cause a change in its state of motion or a change in its shape.
 Forces applied on an object in the same direction add to one another.
 Forces act in the opposite directions on an object, the net force acting on it is the difference
between the twoforces.
 Balanced and unbalanced forces:
o Balanced forces do not cause any change in motion whereas unbalanced forces does.
 Objects or things fall towards the earth because it pulls them. This force is called the force of
gravity or just gravity.
 Force per unit area is called pressure.
 Body is said to be in equilibrium if sum of all the forces acts on the body is zero. In other
words, if it is at rest or moving with uniform velocity.
 Nuclear force is the strongest force in the nature.

Inertia
The inherent property of a body to resist any change in its state of rest or the state of uniform
motion, unless it is influenced upon by an external unbalanced force, is known as inertia.

Types of Inertia

Inertia of rest

 The resistance of a body to change its state of rest is called inertia of rest.
 Example: When you vigorously shake the branches of a tree, some of the leaves and fruits
are detached and they fall down.

Inertia of direction

 The resistance of a body to change its direction of motion is called inertia of direction.
 Example: When you make a sharp turn while driving a car, you tend to lean sideways.

Inertia of motion

 The resistance of a body to change its state of motion is called inertia of motion.
 Example: An athlete runs some distance before jumping. Because, this will help him jump
longer and higher.
Linear Momentum
 The product of mass and velocity of a moving body gives the magnitude of linear
momentum. It acts in thedirection of the velocity of the object.
Linear Momentum = mass × velocity
p = mv
 Linear momentum is a vector quantity.
 The linear momentum measures the impact of a force on a body.

Impulse
When a force F acts on a body for a period of time t, then the product of force and time is known
as ‘impulse’.

Impulse = F × t

Newton’s Laws of Motion

First Law of Motion

 The first law of motion is stated as “An object remains in a state of rest or of uniform motion
in a straightline unless compelled to change that state by an applied force.”
 All objects resist a change in their state of motion. In a qualitative way, the tendency of
undisturbed objects tostay at rest or to keep moving with the same velocity is called inertia.
This is why, the first law of motion is also known as the law of inertia.
 Inertia is the natural tendency of an object to resist a change in its state of motion or of rest.
The mass of anobject is a measure of its inertia. Its SI unit is kilogram.

Second Law of Motion

 The second law of motion states that the rate of change of momentum of an object is
proportional to the applied unbalanced force in the direction of force.
 The SI unit of force is kg m s–2. This is also known as newton and represented by the symbol
N. A force ofone newton produces an acceleration of 1 m s–2 on an object of mass 1 kg.
 The second law of motion gives a method to measure the force acting on an object as a
product of its mass and accelerations.
F = ma
 The momentum, p of an object is defined as the product of its mass, m and velocity, v. That
is p=mv
 Momentum has both direction and magnitude. Its direction is the same as that of velocity, v.
The SI unit of momentum is kilogram-metre per second.
 Real time example is a fielder pulls his hand backward while catching a cricket ball coming
with a great speed to reduce the momentum of the ball with a little delay. In doing so the
fielder increases the time duringwhich the high velocity of the moving ball decreases to zero.
Thus, the acceleration of the ball is decreased and therefore the impact of catching the fast-
 moving ball is also reduced.
 In a high jump athletic event the athletes are made to fall either on a cushioned bed or on a
sand bed. This isto increase the time of the athlete’s fall to stop after making the jump. This
decreases the rate of change of momentum and hence the force. This prevents the athlete
from getting hurt.

Third Law of Motion

 The third law of motion states: “To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
and they act on two different bodies.”
 If a body A applies a force FA on a body B, then the body B reacts with force FB on the body A,
which is equal to FA in magnitude, but opposite in direction. FB = –FAs

Examples
 Real time example is when a gun is fired it exerts a forward force on the bullet. The bullet
exerts an equal and opposite force on the gun. This results in the recoil of the gun. Since the
gun has a much greater massthan the bullet, the acceleration of the gun is much less than
the acceleration of the bullet.
 Third law of motion is another example is when a sailor jumps out of a rowing boat. As the
sailor jumps forward, the force on the boat moves it backwards.
 When birds fly, they push the air downwards with their wings (Action) and the air pushes
the bird upwards (Reaction).
 Motion of rocket.

Conservation of Momentum
 Sum of momenta of the two objects before collision is equal to the sum of momenta after
the collision provided there is no external unbalanced force acting on them. This is known as
the law of conservation of momentum.
 In an isolated system (where there is no external force), the total momentum remains
conserved.
Rocket Propulsion
 Propulsion of rockets is based on the law of conservation of linear momentum as well as
Newton’s third lawof motion.
 Rockets are filled with a fuel (either liquid or solid) in the propellant tank. When the rocket
is fired, this fuel isburnt and a hot gas is ejected with a high speed from the nozzle of the
rocket, producing a huge momentum. To balance this momentum, an equal and opposite
reaction force is produced in the combustion chamber, which makes the rocket project
forward.

Pressure
 The effect of force can be measured using a physical quantity called pressure. It can be
defined as the amount of force or thrust acting perpendicularly on a surface of area of one
square meter of a body.
Pressure = Thrust (or) Force/ Area
 The SI unit of pressure is pascal
 Pressure exerted by a force depends on the magnitude of the force and the area of contact.
 The effect of pressure can be increased by increasing the thrust or by decreasing the surface
area of the body.

Atmospheric Pressure
 The amount of force or weight of the atmospheric air that acts downward on unit surface
area of the surface of the earth is known as atmospheric pressure.
 It can be measured using the device called barometer.
 The barometer was invented by Torricelli.
 Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude from the surface of the Earth.

Friction
 Frictional force or friction arises when two or more bodies in contact move or tend to move,
relative to each other. It acts always in the opposite direction of the moving body.
 This force is produced due to the geometrical dissimilarities of the surface of the bodies,
which are in relative motion.
 Friction can be increased by increasing the area of the surfaces in contact.
 Friction can produce the following effects.
 Friction opposes motion.
 It causes wear and tear of the surfaces in contact.
 It produces heat.

Substances Reducing Friction

 The substances that reduce friction are known as lubricants. E.g. when oil, grease, or
graphite is applied between the moving part of a machine, then it creates a thin layer;
resultantly, moving surfaces do not directly rub against each other that ultimately reduces
friction.
 When a body rolls over the surface of another body, the resistance to its motion is known
as the rolling friction. The rolling reduces the force of friction.
 The frictional force exerted by fluids is known as drag.
 The frictional force, on an object in a fluid, is dependent on its speed with respect to the
fluid.
 The frictional force depends on the shape of the respective object and also on the nature of
the fluid.
 Fluid friction is minimized by giving suitable shapes to the bodies moving in fluids.

Advantages of Friction
 We can hold objects in our hand due to friction.
 We can walk on the road because of friction. The friction between footwear and the ground
help us to walkwithout slipping.
 Writing on the paper with a pen is easy due to friction.
 Automobiles can move safely due to friction between the tyres and the road. Brakes can be
applied due to frictional resistance on brake shoes.
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for History
 VEDIC CIVILIZATION
 Vedic literature is the most significant source of information about the Vedic
civilization.
 The Vedic literature consists of three successive classes of literary creations, namely
–
o Vedas
o Brahmanas
o Aranyakas and Upanishads

Vedas

 Veda means "knowledge". The Vedas formed the earliest segment of Vedic
literature.
 The Vedic literature had been evolved in the course of many centuries and was
handed down from generation to generation by the word of mouth.
 The Vedas are the collection of hymns, prayers, charms, litanies, and sacrificial
formulae.
 Vedas are four in number, namely –
o Rig Veda − It is the oldest Veda. It is a collection of hymns.
o Samveda − it is a collection of songs, which are mostly taken from Rig Veda.
o Yajurveda − It is a collection of sacrificial formulae.
o Atharvanaveda − it is a collection of spells and charms.

Brahmanas

The Brahmanas are prose texts. It describes about the meaning of Vedic hymns, their
applications, and stories of their origins in details. Besides, it also explains the details about
rituals and philosophies.

Aranyakas and Upanishads

 Aranyakas and Upanishads exemplify philosophical meditations of the hermits and

ascetics on soul, god, world, etc. These are partly included in the Brahmanas or
attached, and partly exist as separate works.
 They, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads are attached to one or the
other of the four Vedas.
 Compositions of the hymns are credited to Hindu Rishis (monks) of divine origin.
 The Vedas are called ‘apaurusheya’ (not created by man) and ‘nitya’ (existing in all
eternity) while the Rishis are known as inspired seers who received
the mantras from the Supreme deity.

Age of RigVeda

 The origin of the earth goes back to about 4,600 million years and the origin of
humans themselves goes back to about 4.2 million years (ago).
  Max Muller gives arbitrarily the date of composition of Rig Veda to be around 1,200
to 1,000 B.C.
 W. D. Whitney negated and criticized Muller for using totally arbitrary, unscientific,
and un-academic method in assigning the dates.
 On the analogy of the language of Avesta, some scholars opined that the date of Rig
Veda may be 1,000 B.C.
 Some of the Vedic gods namely Indra, Varuna, Mitra, and the two Nasatyas were
mentioned in Boghaz-Koi (Asia Minor) inscription of 1,400 B.C., which proves that Rig
Veda must have come into existence much before the date described by some of the
foreigner scholars.
 The Boghaz-Koi inscription records a treaty between the Hittite and
the Mitanni Kings and the gods (mentioned in the above point) were cited as
witnesses to this treaty. Even today, exactly in the same way, the oath is taken in the
courts and on an assumption of a public office (in the name of god).
 Bal Gangadhar Tilak, on astronomical grounds, dated Rig Veda to 6,000 B.C.
 Harmon Jacobi held that Vedic civilization flourished between 4,500 B.C. and 2,500
B.C. and the Samhitas were composed in the latter half of the period.
 Famous Sanskritist, Winternitz felt that the Rig Veda was probably composed in the
third millennium B.C.
 R. K. Mukerjee suggested that "on a modest computation, we should come to 2,500
B.C. as the time of Rig Veda".
 G. C. Pande also favors a date of 3,000 B.C. or even earlier.

Rig Vedic Geography

 Rig Vedic people called themselves ‘Aryans’. They had detailed knowledge of the
geographical area in which they lived. Name and location and pattern of
geographical features such as rivers and mountains mentioned in Rig-Veda suggest
location of the regions of the geographical area of their habitat.
 The Nadi-sukta hymn of the Rig Veda mentions 21 rivers, which include the Ganga in
the east and the Kubha (Kabul) in the west.
 The pattern of rivers is given in a definite order from the east to west i.e. from
the Ganga in the east to the Kubul in the west. The rivers like Yamuna, Saraswati,
Sutlej, Ravi, Jhelum, and Indus are situated between Ganga and Kabul.
 The mountain namely the Himalayas and the Mujavant (as mentioned in the Veda)
are located in the north.
 The Ocean i.e. ‘Samudra’ is mentioned in connection with rivers Sindhu and the
river Saraswati had been falling into the ocean. Ocean has been also mentioned in
the context of foreign trade.
 The geography of Rig Vedic period covers present-day western Uttar Pradesh,
Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, the whole of Pakistan, and the south of
Afghanistan.
 The battle of ten kings, mentioned in the Rig Veda, gives names of ten kings who
participated in a war against Sudas who was Bharata king of Tritsus family. It
illustrates that the territory known to Vedic people was divided into a number of
states-republics and monarchical (kingdoms).
  The battle was fought on the bank of Parushani (Ravi) river and Sudas emerged as
victorious.
 ‘Bharatvarsha’ was the name used for the whole country. It was given by the most
important people of the Rig Veda. They were ‘Bharatas’ who were settled in the
region between the rivers Saraswati and Yamuna.
 The Rig Veda also gives the location of other people, such as Purus in the region
of Kurukshetra; the Tritsus east of Ravi; the Alinas, the Pakhtas, the Bhalanas and the
Sibis west of Indus (up to Kabul river) and so on.

Vedic Society
Society
 Occupation of individuals was the basis of classification of a society in the Rig Vedic
period.
 It was divided into four varnas, namely
o Brahmanas (teacher and priests);
o Kshatriya (rulers and administrators);
o Vaisya (farmers, merchants, and bankers); and
o Sudra (artisan and laborers).

 There was complete freedom and mobility for the adoption of a profession.
 Trades and occupations did not assume a hereditary character in the society (till
now).

Salient Features of Vedic Society

 The family was the smallest unit of a society. It was primarily monogamous and
Patriarchal.
 Child marriage was not in fashion.
 There was freedom of choice in marriage.
 A widow could marry the younger brother of her deceased husband.
 The wife was a partner of the husband in all religious and social ceremonies.
 The father's property was inherited by son.
 The daughter could inherit it only if she was the only child of her parents.
 Right to property was known in moveable things like cattle, horse, gold, and
ornament and so also in immoveable property like land and house.

Education

 The teacher was given great respect.

 The school was in the home of the teacher where he taught the particular sacred
texts.
 The texts were in the first instance learnt by pupils repeating the words taught by
their teacher.
 A great importance was attached to enunciation and pronunciation.
  Oral learning was the method of training.
 Students were given intense training and learning to memorize and preserve the
huge mass of Vedic literature.

Food and Drinks

 The important part of the diet was milk and its products like curd, butter, and ghee.
Grains were cooked with milk (kshira-pakamodanam).
 Chappati (bread) of wheat and barley was eaten mixed with ghee.
 People used to eat the meat of birds, wild animals (like boar, antelopes, and buffalo),
and fish.
 The meat of animals such as sheep, goat, and buffalo etc., which were sacrificed on
ceremonial occasions, was also eaten.
 The cow was mentioned as aghnya i.e. not to be killed. The Vedas prescribe a
penalty of death or expulsion from the kingdom to those who kill or injure cows.
 Sura and Soma i.e. alcoholic drinks were also consumed, though their consumption
had been condemned.

Economic Life

 Agriculture, cattle rearing, and trade and commerce were the main economic activity
of the Rig Vedic people.
 People had domestic animals like cows, sheep, goats, asses, dogs, buffalos etc.
 Oxen were used for ploughing and drawing carts and horses for drawing the chariots.
 The plough was drawn by the oxen at times in a team of six, eight, or even twelve.
 The grains were harvested with sickles.
 Manure was used for high yield; irrigation was also practiced.
 Excess of rains and drought is mentioned as damaging the crops.
 The grains are collectively called ‘Yava’ and ‘Dhanya.’
 Some other occupations were pottery-making, weaving, carpentry, metal working,
leather-working, etc.
 Initially, copper was the only metal that was used and the general term 'ayas' had
been used for this. In a later period, terms like ‘lohit ayas’ and ‘syam ayas’ were used
for copper and iron respectively.
 The trade and traders (vanik) were also known in the Rig Vedic era.
 The practices of exchange of goods (Barter Economy) were in trend. It has been
found that ten cows were quoted as the price for an image of Indra.
 The use of money can be traced in the mention of a gift of 100 nishkas.
 Money-lending was also popular. It is mentioned that an eighth or a sixteenth part of
one being paid either as an interest or part of the principle.
 The sea is mentioned in the context of trade and ocean wealth, like pearls, and shells.

Vedic Politics
Politics of Vedic India was well structured and organized.
Political Structure

 The political structure of Rig Vedic India can be studied in the following ascending
order –
o The Family (Kula), the smallest unit.
o The Village (Grama)
o The Clan (Vis)
o The People (Jana)
o The Country (Rashtra)
 Kula (family) included all the people living under the same roof (griha).
 A collection of several families constitutes the grama (village) and its headman was
called gramini.
 The collection of several grama (village) was called as the Vis and its head was
called Vispati.
 Several Vis constituted a Jana as it is mentioned as Panchajanah, Yadva-
janaha, and Bharata-janaha.
 The aggregation of all Jana constitutes Rashtra (country).

Administration

 The hereditary kings were the popular form of Government.

 The provision of a democratically elected king by the assembly of people Jana was
also known.
 The Rashtra was small states ruled by a raja (king).
 The bigger kingdoms were ruled by ‘samrat’ that reflects that they enjoyed a
position of greater authority and dignity.
 The Raja administered justice with the assistance of Purohita and other officials.
 The Raja was offered bali, which was voluntary gift or tribute for his services.
The bali was offered by his own people and also from defeated people.
 The crimes were strongly dealt with by the administration. Major crimes were theft,
burglary, robbery, and cattle lifting.
 The important royal officials were –
o Purohita (chief priest and minister)
o Senani (army chief)
o Gramini (head of a village)
o Dutas (envoys)
o Spies (spy)
 Sabha and Samiti were two important assemblies mentioned in the Rig Veda. These
assemblies were forms the essential feature of the government.
 The Samiti was mainly dealt with the policy decisions and political business, included
common people.
 The Sabha was a selected body of the Elders or Nobles and less political in character.

Vedic Religion & Philosophy

Some gods had also been worshipped during the Rig Vedic period, which were the
personified powers of nature.

Categories of Gods

 The Vedic Gods were classified into three categories as –

o Terrestrial (Prithivisthana) e.g. Prithivi, Agni, Soma, Brihaspati, and Rivers.
o Aerial or intermediate (Antarikshasthana), Indra, Apam-napat, Rudra, Vayu-
Vata, Prujanya, and Apah (water).
o Celestial (Dyusthana) e.g. Dyaus, Varuna, Mitra, Surya, Savitri, Pushan, Vishnu,
the Adityas, Ushas, and the Asvins.

 Indra and Varuna (the supreme cosmic and moral ruler) stand out in that order, pre-
eminent above the rest.
 Agni and Soma were also popular deities. Agni was valued as the messenger
between the earth and the heaven. Agni is the only God who is regarded as present
among all the categories of Gods.
 Gods are described as born yet they are immortal. In appearance, they are humans,
though sometimes they are conceived as animals, e.g. Dyaus as a bull and Sun as a
swift horse.
 In the sacrifice to the God, ordinary food of men such as milk, grain, flesh, etc. were
offered and it becomes the food of Gods.
 The gods normally used to be kind; but some of them also had unkind traits,
like Rudra and Maruta.
 Splendor, strength, knowledge, possession, and truth are common attributes of all
the deities.
 Gayatri Mantra is recited daily by the pious Hindus even today.
 The multiplicity of gods is due to the different designations that have been given to
God.
 The ultimate unity of the universe is asserted as the creation of one God to whom
different designations applied.
 The creation is deemed as the outcome of the sacrifice made by the Viratpurusha or
of evolution from nonbeing manifested in the form of water.
 It is mentioned that Hiranyagarbha arose from the great waters, pervading the
universe, and thus created the waves out of eternally pre-existing matter.
 The hymn devoted to Visvakarman tells us that the waters contained the floating
world egg from which Visvakarman arises; the first born in the universe, the creator,
and maker of the world. It is now confirmed by science that life first developed in
water.
SSC CHSL EXAM
Study Material For Biology
 PLANT DISEASES
Viral Diseases in Plants
Disease Plants Affected
Bud Blight Soy beans
Curly top Beans, tomato, sugar beets, etc.
Tomato, tobacco, corn, legume, potato, pea, sugar beet, cucumber,
Mosaic leaf
maize, cauliflower, sugarcane, bean, etc.
Yellowing of leaf Barley, sugar beet, potato, etc.
Spotted Wilt Virus Tomato, capsicum, etc.
Chlorosis Virus Tomato, capsicum, etc.

Bacterial Diseases in Plants

Disease Plants Affected
Blights Vegetable crops, fruit trees, etc.
Bacterial wilts Corn, tobacco, potatoes, alfalfa, tomatoes, etc.
Bacterial speck Fruits and leaves of different plants
Cankers Woody plants
Leaf spot Cotton, beans, peas, etc.
Soft rots Fleshy or succulent plant parts
Fire Bligh Rosebushes, pome fruit trees, etc.

Fungal Diseases in Plants

Disease Plants Affected
Cankers Largely woody plants
Downy mildew Grains, onions, cucumbers, alfalfa, etc.
Ergot Rye, barley, wheat and other grasses
Powdery mildew Grains, legumes
Tuber diseases Potato, sweet potato, etc.
Rusts Wheat, barley, rye, oats, etc.
Root rots All types of plants
Scab Wheat, barley, rye, potato, etc.
Smuts Oats, barley, corn, wheat, grasses, etc.
Wilts Potatoes, alfalfa, etc.
Cavity spot Carrot
Leaf blight Carrot
Ring spot Brassicas

Diseases by Nematodes in Plants

Disease Plants Affected
Hairy root Sugar beets, potatoes, soybeans, etc.
Root lesions Different species of plants get affected
Root-knot Tomatoes, peanuts, etc.
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for History
 HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION
 Till 1920, the relics of the civilization were found only in the Indus valley region; therefore, it
was known as the Indus civilization.
 In 1920-21, the Harappan civilization was discovered in the excavations by D. R. Salini
(at Harappa) and by R. D. Banerjee (at Mohenjo Daro).
 The remains of the civilization were first noticed at Harappa, therefore it is also known as
the Harappan civilization.

Geographical Facts

Following are the important geographical facts of distribution of Harappan civilization −

 The 1,400 settlements of this civilization discovered so far are distributed over a very wide
geographical area covering almost 1,600 km (east to west) and 1,400 km (north to south).
 Harappan civilization extent starts from:
o Sutkagendor (Baluchistan) in the west to Alamgirpur (Meerut, Uttar Pradesh) in the
east and
o Manda (Akhnoor District, Jammu and Kashmir) in the north
to Daimabad (Ahmadnagar District, Maharashtra) in the south.
  About 1,400 settlements of the Harappan culture are known from different parts of India.
About 925 settlements sites are now in India and 475 are in Pakistan.
 The total geographical stretch of Harappan civilization is about 1,250,000 sq. km which is
more than 20 times of the area of Egyptian and more than 12 times of the combined area
of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.
 Mostly, the Harappan settlements were located on river banks of which:
o Only 40 settlements were located on the Indus and its tributaries;
o As many as 1,100 (80%) settlements were located on the vast plain between the
Indus and the Ganga, comprising mainly the Saraswati river system (which no more
exist);
o About 250 settlements were found in India beyond the Saraswati River system; a
number of them were located in Gujarat, and a few in Maharashtra.
o The distribution pattern of settlements shows that the focus of Harappan civilization
was not the Indus, but the Saraswati River and its tributaries, which flowed between
the Indus and the Ganga. Therefore, few researchers prefer to call it
as Saraswati civilization or Indus-Saraswati civilization
 The settlements belonging to this civilization can be classified as:
o Small villages (which were up to 10 hectares),
o Larger towns and small cities (10 to 50 hectares).
o Large cities settlements such as −
 Mohenjo Daro (+250 hectares),
 Harappa (+150 hectares),
 Ganawariwala (+80 hectares),
 Rakhigarhi (+80 hectares),
 Kalibangan (+100 hectares), and
 Dholavira (+100 hectares).
 Large cities were surrounded by vast agricultural lands, rivers, and forest that were
inhabited by scattered farming and pastoral communities and bands of hunters and food-
gatherers.
 Excavations at the sites of Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Kalibangan, Lothal, Surkotada,
Dholavira, etc. have given us a fair idea about the various aspects such as town planning,
economy, technology, religion, etc. of this civilization.

Harappan Town Planning

 The orientation of streets and buildings, according to the cardinal directions east-west, and
north-south was the distinguishing factor of the Indus-Saraswati cities.
  Harappan city sites, including Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Kalibangan, and Surkotada were
having large gateways at various entry points of the city. These gateways are seen even in
the inner fortification areas also.
 At Dholavira, a fallen signboard was found close to the main gateway. It is a large
inscription having ten symbols each measuring approximately 37 cm high and 25 to 27 cm
wide proclaimed some name or title.

Materials Used in Buildings

 Most settlements were situated in the alluvial plains where the most common building
materials were mud-bricks and kiln-fired-bricks, wood and reeds.
 In the foothills and on the Islands of Kutch and in Saurashtra, dressed stone replaced bricks
(due to an abundance of stone).
 The sizes of bricks have been found identical proportions 1:2:4, that the width is double the
thickness and the length four times, the thickness.
 Doors and windows were made up of wood and mats.
 Floors of houses were generally hard-packed earth that was often plastered.
 Drains and bathing areas were made with baked bricks or stone.
 Roofs were probably made of wooden beams covered with reeds and packed clay.

Types of Buildings

 Excavations have uncovered many types of houses and public buildings at both large and
small settlements.
 The architecture may be grouped into three categories with some variations as:
o Private houses,
o Large houses surrounded by smaller units, and
 o Large public structures.

 Doorways and windows rarely opened out into the main street, but faced side lanes.
 The view into the house was blocked by a wall or a room around the front door. This was
done to protect the activities in the central courtyard from the view of passers-by.
 The doors were made with wooden frames and a brick socket set in the threshold served as
door pivot.
 Some of the doors seem to have been painted and possibly carved with simple
ornamentation.
 The windows were small at first and second stories.
 The adjacent houses were separated by a narrow space of "no man's land".

Public Buildings
 Some large and distinct structures have been found in several cities designed especially for
the public purpose.

Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro

 The Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro is the most remarkable feature of any Harappan site.
 The Great Bath was a brick structure, which measured 12 m by 7 m and is nearly 3 m deep
from the surrounding pavement.
 Water was evidently supplied by 3 large well placed in an adjacent room.
 Surrounding the bath, there were porticos and sets of rooms, while a stairway led to an
upper storey.
 The bath was linked with some sort of ritual bathing, which was very common in Indian life
right from the ancient times to till date.
 Immediately to the west of the Great Bath (at Mohenjo Daro) was a group of 27 blocks of
brickwork crisscrossed by narrow lanes. This structure measures 50 m. east-west and 27 m.
north-south. These structures have been identified as granaries, which were used for
storing grains. Similar structures have been also found at Harappa, Kalibangan, and Lothal.
 The dockyard found at Lothal was another important structure. It was a large structure
measuring 223 m. in length, 35 m. in width and 8 m. in depth, provided with an inlet
channel (12.30 m. wide) in the eastern wall and a spillway.
  The inlet channel was connected to a river. By its side, it was 240 m. long and 21.6 m wide
wharf. This was a dockyard where ships and boats used to come for loading and unloading
of trading goods.
 Lothal was a major trading center of the Harappan civilization.

Streets and Drains

 The most outstanding features of the Harappan civilization were the streets and side lanes
equipped with drains system.

 The streets cut each other on the right angles and the width of these streets was in a set
ratio.
 No encroachment on the streets was to be seen.
 Even smaller towns and villages had impressive drainage systems. This indicates that people
had a great civic sense of sanitation and care for health and hygiene.
 Burnt bricks were used to make drains. Small drains connected with bathing platforms and
latrines of private houses were joined with the medium sized drains in the side streets then
these drains ran into larger sewers in the main streets which were covered with bricks or
dressed stone blocks.
Crafts & Industries
 The Harappan civilization is referred to as a Bronze Age civilization.
 Customarily, unalloyed copper was used for manufacturing artifacts and rarely tin was
mixed with copper to make bronze.

Harappan Tools

 Tools and weapons were simple in form. They comprised of flat -axes, chisels, arrowhead,
spearheads, knives, saws, razors, and fish-hooks.

 People also made copper and bronze vessels. They made small plates and weights of lead,
and gold and silver jewelry of considerable sophistication.
 The Harappans continued to use knives of chert blades. Further, a great skill and expertise
have been seen in precious and semi-precious stone beads and weights.
 Long barrel shaped cornelian beads (up to 10 cm. long) are the finest examples of
craftsmanship.
 Steatite was used for making a variety of objects like seals, beads, bracelets, buttons,
vessels, etc. but its use in making faience (a form of glass) is particularly noteworthy.
 The gold objects found in the form of beads, pendants, amulets, brooches, and other small
ornaments in the Harappan civilization. The Harappan gold is of light color indicating high
silver content.
 Mature Harappan pottery represents a blend of the ceramic tradition of the pre-
Harappan culture of both west of the Indus region as well as of the Saraswati area.
 The pottery technology was quite advanced. Most of the pots were wheel-made.
 Big storage jars were also produced. Pots were beautifully painted in black on the bright red
surface with geometric designs, plants, animals, and a few paintings seem to depict scenes
from stories.
 More than 2,500 seals have been found. These are made of steatite. They mostly depict a
single animal-unicorn bull, elephant, rhinoceros etc. but some also depict trees, semi-
human, and human figurines; in some cases, participating in a ceremony.
  Shell working was another flourishing industry. Artisans, settlements close to the sea
manufactured shell ornaments like pendants, rings, bracelets, inlays, beads etc., besides
objects as bowls, ladles, and gamesmen.

Trade and Commerce

 Intensive agricultural production and large-scale trade played significant roles in flourishing
of the Harappan civilization.
 The elegant social structure and the standard of living must have been achieved by a highly
developed system of communication and a strong economy.
 The trade must have been internal in the beginning i.e. between one zone and another.
 Agricultural produce, industrial raw materials (including copper ores, stone, semi-precious
shells, etc.) were traded on a large scale.
 Besides the raw material, they used to trade –
o Finished products of metals (pots and pans, weapon, etc.);
o Precious and semi-precious stones (beads, pendants, amulets, etc.); and
o Ornaments of gold and silver were also traded to various areas.
 They procured –
o Copper from Khetri mines of Rajasthan;
o Chert blades from Rohri hills of Sindh;
o Carnelian beads from Gujarat and Sindh;
o Lead from south India;
o Lapis-lazuli from Kashmir and Afghanistan;
o Turquoise and jade from central Asia or Iran;
o Amethyst from Maharashtra; and
o Agate, chalcedony, and carnelian from Saurashtra.
 The occurrence of mature Harappan seals and other artefacts in contemporary
Mesopotamian civilization, and some of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian objects
in Harappan civilization, and the evidence of Mesopotamian documents established that
the Harappans had the trading relationship with each other.

Weights and Measures

 The trade requires a regulation of exchange and of weights and measures.

 Harappan weights and measures were cubical and spherical in shape and were made up
of chert, jasper, and agate.
 The system of weights proceeded in a series i.e.
o first doubling, from 1, 2, 4, 8, to 64, then going to 160; then
o Decimal multiples of sixteen, 320, 640, 1600, 6400 (1600 × 4), 8000 (1600 × 5) and
128,000 (i.e. 16000 × 8).
 The tradition of 16 or its multiples continued in India till 1950s.
 Sixteen chhatank made a ser (equivalent to one kilo) and 16 annas made one rupee.
 The measure of length was based upon a foot of 37.6 cm. and a cubit of 51.8 to 53.6 cm.
Transport and Travel

 Pictures of ships and boats are found on some seals and drawings on pottery
from Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.
 Ship or a boat, with a stick-impressed socket for the mast, has been found from Lothal.
 The boats depicted on seals and pottery resembles with the boats used in Sindh and Punjab
areas (even today).
 For land transport, bullock-carts and pack animals like bull, camel, ass etc. were used.
 The terracotta models of bullock-cart found on roads from various sites indicate that carts
used in those days were of the same size and shape used in the present day.

Harappan Culture

Arts

 A large variety of objects such as seals, stone statues, terracotta, etc. is superb examples of
the art activities.
 A Yogi from Mohenjo Daro and two small figurines from Harappa are the most outstanding
pieces of art.

 A dancing girl statue of about 11.5 cm. in height made up of bronzes was found
from Mohenjo Daro.
 Daimabad bronze animals’ workmanship, most likely belong to Harappan period.
 The red sandstone torso found at Harappa is made up of detachable limbs and head.
 The grey stone torso perhaps illustrates a dancing figure. Both these are so realistic that
none would believe that they belong to the Harappan period.
 Harappan people produced a large number of terracotta figurines, which were handmade.
The figurines include humans, animals, birds, and monkey.
  Following are the Specimen of Arts from the Harappan Civilization –
o Bronze statue (Dancing Girl);
o Terracotta Bulls;
o Terracotta Female Figurine;
o Head of a Yogi; and
o Painted Jar dogs, sheep, and cattle.
 The most artistic depictions are the figures of humped bull. Figurines of both humped and
humpless bulls are found in excavations.
 A painting was found only on pottery. Unfortunately, no wall paintings, even if there were
any, have survived.

Script

 The language of Harappan is still unknown. But some scholars connect it to the Dravidian
languages and others to Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit.
 There are nearly 400 specimens of Harappan signs on seals and other materials such as
copper tablets, axes, and pottery. Most of the inscriptions on seals are small, a group of few
letters.
 The Harappa script has 400 to 500 signs and it is generally agreed that it is not an alphabetic
form of writing.

Agriculture

 Agriculture was generally practiced along the river banks most of which were flooded during
the summer and monsoons. The flood deposited every year fresh alluvial silt, which is highly
productive and for which no major furrowing and certainly no manures and irrigation were
required.
 The cultivated field excavated at Kalibangan shows crisscross furrow marks indicating that
two crops were grown simultaneously. This method is followed even today in the Rajasthan,
Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh.
 The granaries found at Harappan cities suggest that cereals were produced in such a large
quantities. They also kept enough reserve to face any future emergency.
 The principal cereals were wheat and barley. Rice was also known and was a favored grain.
Remains of rice have been found from Gujarat and Haryana areas.
  Six varieties of millets including ragi, kodon, sanwa, and jowar were cultivated, along with
peas and beans.
 Fragments of cotton cloth found at Mohenjo Daro and other sites show that cotton was also
grown.
 Cotton has been found at Mehrgarh at least 2,000 years before the mature phase of the
Civilization. This is the oldest evidence of cotton in the world.
 Other major crops include dates, varieties of legumes, sesame, and mustard.
 Wooden plough with a copper or wooden ploughshare was used for tilling fields.
 Terracotta models of the plough have been found at Mohenjo Daro and Banawali.
 Harvesting of crops would have been done with copper sickles as well as stone blades
hafted in wood.
 Animals like sheep, goat, humped bull, buffalo, elephant, etc. have been depicted on the
seals. This shows that the range of animals domesticated by the Harappan people was quite
large.
 Skeletal remains of several animals like sheep, goat, bull, buffalo, elephant, camel, pig, dog,
and cat etc. have been found in excavations.
 Wild animals were hunted for the food. Bones of animals like spotted deer, sambhar deer,
hog deer, wild pig, etc. found in the excavation prove it. Besides, several types of birds as
well as fishes, were also hunted for food.
 Bones of horses have been reported from Lothal, Surkotada, Kalibangan, and several other
sites.
 Terracotta figurines of the horse have been found at Nausharo and Lothal. But this animal is
not depicted on seals.

Harappan Religion
 There are generally two aspects of Harappan religion –
o Conceptual or philosophical and
o Practical or ritualistic.
  The available evidence indicates that the religion of the Indus people comprised of –
o Worship of the Mother Goddess;
o Worship of a male deity, probably of Lord Siva;
o Worship of animals, nature, semi human, or fabulous;
o Worship of trees in their natural state or of their indwelling spirits;
o Worship of inanimate stones or other objects, of linga and yoni symbol;
o Chrematheism as illustrated in the worship of the sacred "incense-burners";
o Faith in amulets and charms indicative of demonophobia; and
o Practice of yoga.
 These characteristics suggest that the religion was mainly of an indigenous growth and "the
lineal progenitor of Hinduism,” which is characterized by most of the features.
 A large number of female figurines of terracotta have been found, which are the
representations of the Great Mother Goddess.
 A striking rectangle sealing found at Harappa represents the Earth or Mother Goddess with
a plant growing from her womb.
 A male deity, which depiction Siva as Pasupati (i.e. the prototype of the historic Siva), is
portrayed on a seal with three faces, seated on a low throne in the typical posture of a Yogi,
with two animals on each side - elephant and tiger on right and rhinoceros and buffalo on
left, and two deer standing under the throne.
 A terracotta piece having linga and yoni in one piece found from Kalibangan. People of
Kalibangan region were worshiped the symbolic representation
of Siva and Sakti respectively.
 A remarkable seal, found at Mohenjo Daro, standing between two branches of a pipal tree,
represents the deity.
 A large number of 'fire-altars' have been found from the sites located in Gujarat, Rajasthan,
and Haryana. From Kalibangan, Lothal, and Banawali a number of 'fire-altars' have been
found.
 Swastika, a sacred symbol with Hindus, Buddhists, and Jaina has been depicted on seals,
painting, and graffiti.
 A large number of terracotta figurines depict the individuals in various yogic postures
(asanas) indicating thereby that the Harappans practiced yoga.

Social Stratification

 The Harappan society appears to have been divided into three sections, viz.
o An elite class associated with the Citadel;
o A well-to-do middle class; and
o A relatively weaker section, occupying the lower town, which was generally fortified.
 The Craftsmen and laborers normally were resided outside the fortified area.
 It is, however, difficult to say whether these divisions were based purely on the economic
factors or had a socio-religious basis.
 At Kalibangan, it appears that the priests resided in the upper part of the citadel and
performed rituals on fire altars in the lower part of it.
Political Setup

 It is also difficult to ascertain that what kind of political setup was prevailed at the time of
the Harappan civilization.
 The entire area of Indus Empire was administered from one capital, with a few regional
administrative centers or provincial capitals.
 There were several independent states or kingdoms, each with cities like Mohenjo Daro in
Sindh, Harappa in Punjab, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, and Lothal in Gujarat as their capitals.
 During 1,000 B.C., the area was divided into sixteen Mahajanapadas each independent with
its own capital.

Disposal of the Dead

 Scattered burials, as well as discreet cemeteries, have been found at many major sites.
 The skeletal remains are few in comparison to the size of settlements and the population
that may have lived on them.
 The general practice was that skeletons were placed in an extended position with the head
towards the north. Earthen pots containing food grains, etc. were placed in the grave and, in
some cases, the body was buried with ornaments.
 Cremation was also practiced, which has been proved by many cinerary urns or other
receptacles containing calcined human bones and ashes together with vessel offerings for
the use of a dead person in the next life.

Harappan Chronology
 Marshall suggested that Harappan civilization flourished between 3,250 and 2,750 B.C.
 Wheeler dated it to 2,500-1,500 B.C.
 On the basis of radiocarbon dating method following chronology of the civilization emerges
as –
o Early Harappan Phase: c. 3,500 – 2,600 B.C.
o Mature Harappan Phase: c. 2,600 - 1,900 B.C.
o Late Harappan Phase: c. 1,900 – 1,300 B.C.

Decline
 John Marshall (Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928)
declares that Harappan civilization declined due to environmental degradation. The cutting
of forests for agricultural land and timber for fuel and over-exploitation of resources, etc.
resulted in the land to become barren and in the silting of rivers.
 The environmental degradation, flood, drought, and famine must have become a recurring
feature, which finally led to its decline.
 Wheeler opined that it was destroyed by the Barabarian Aryans who came to India in about
1,500 B.C.
 The archaeological or biological evidence proved that Wheeler's thesis of Aryan was the
destroyer of the Harappan civilization was a myth.
 The Harappan civilization was spread over a large area. There may be many causes of its
decline as –
o In the River Saraswati region, most likely, it declined mainly due to shifting of river
channels.
o Along the River Indus, most likely, it declined largely due to recurring floods.
o Rainfall declined in general, which affected the agriculture, the main economic
resource.
o With the decline in economic conditions all other institutions like trade and
commerce, administrative and political structures, Civic amenities, etc. also declined
over a period of time.
 Archaeological evidence shows that Harappan civilization did not disappear suddenly.
 The decline was gradual and slow, which is witnessed over a period of almost 600 years
from c. 1,900-1,300 B.C.
 Features such as town-planning, grid patterns, drainage system, standard weights, and
measures etc. slowly disappeared and a kind of realization takes place with distinctive
regional variations.
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for General Awareness
 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA
The Financial Institutions act as a mediator between the investor and the borrower. The
investor’s savings are mobilised either directly or indirectly via the Financial Markets. 
The main functions of the Financial Institutions are as follows:
● A short term liability can be converted into a long term investment.
● It helps in conversion of a risky investment into a risk-free investment.
● Also acts as a medium of convenience denomination, which means, it can match a
small deposit with large loans and a large deposit with small loans.
The best example of a Financial Institution is a Bank. People with surplus amounts of money
make savings in their accounts, and people in dire need of money take loans. The bank acts
as an intermediate between the two.
The financial institutions can further be divided into two types:
● Banking Institutions or Depository Institutions – This includes banks and other
credit unions which collect money from the public against interest provided on the
deposits made and lend that money to the ones in need.
● Non-Banking Institutions or Non-Depository Institutions – Insurance, mutual funds
and brokerage companies fall under this category. They cannot ask for monetary
deposits but sell financial products to their customers.
Further, Financial Institutions can be classified into three categories:
● Regulatory – Institutes that regulate the financial markets like RBI, IRDA, SEBI, etc.
● Intermediates – Commercial banks which provide loans and other financial
assistance such as SBI, BOB, PNB, etc.
● Non Intermediates – Institutions that provide financial aid to corporate customers. It
includes NABARD, SIBDI, etc. 

Credit Rating Agencies

Credit rating agency is a company which rates the companies and government on the basis
of their ability to pay back the debt in timely manner. There are four credit rating agencies in
India:
1. CRISIL (Credit Rating and Information Services of India Ltd.)
● India’s first credit rating agency.
● Founded:1987
● Headquarter: Mumbai

2. ICRA (Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency)

● It is an Indian independent and professional investment information agency.
● Founded: 1991
 ● Headquarter: Gurugram

3. CARE (Credit Analysis & Research Ltd.)

● It is second largest credit rating agency in India.
● Founded:1993
● Headquarter: Mumbai

4. Onicra Credit Information Company Ltd

● It is a private sector agency set up by Onida finance.
● Established :1993
● Headquarter: Gurugram

CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd.

● India’s first credit information company.
● Founded :2000
● Headquarter: Mumbai

SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India)

● SEBI is a regulator of India’s securities market.
● Established: 1992
● Headquarter: Mumbai
● Chairman: Ajay Tyagi

IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India)

● It is an autonomous, statutory agency tasked with regulating and promoting the
insurance and re-insurance industries in India.
● Founded: 1999
● Headquarter: Hyderabad
● Chairman: Subhash Chandra Khuntia

MUDRA Bank (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank)

● It is financial institution which is setup under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. It is
set up to provide loans at low interest rates to micro finance institutions.
● Headquarter: New Delhi
● Founded: 8 April 2015
● MUDRA can be classified into three types:
o Shishu: under this loans up to Rs 50000 will be provided
o Kishore: under this loans up to Rs 5 lakh will be provided
o Tarun: under this loans up to Rs 10 lakh will be provided
NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India)
● It is the umbrella organization for all retail payment systems in India, which aims to
allow all Indian citizens to have unrestricted access to e-payment services.
● Founded: 2008
● Headquarter: Mumbai
● Chairman: Biswamohan Mahapatra

NHB (National Housing Bank)

● National Housing Bank is the apex bank in India. It is the wholly owned subsidiary of
the Reserve Bank of India.
● Founded: 1988
● Headquarter: New Delhi
● Chief Executive: Sarada Kumar Hota

SIDBI (Small Industrial Development Bank of India)

● It is the subsidiary of Industrial Development Bank of India. It was set up to promote
finance and to develop micro and medium industries of India.
● Established: 1990
● Headquarter: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
● Chairman: Sivasubramanian Ramann

Export-Import Bank of India

● It is the premier export finance institution of the country that seeks to build value by
integrating foreign trade and investment with the economic rise of India.
● Established: 1982
● Headquarter: Mumbai
● Chairman: Harsha Bangari

NABARD: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

● Established: 12th July 1982
● Recommendation: Sivaraman Committee
● Headquarter: Mumbai
● Chairman: G.R.Chintala
● Aim: To uplift Rural India & rural non-farm sector.
● NABARD acts as regulator for co-operative banks &RRB's (Regional Rural Banks).

ECGC: Export Credit Guarantee Corporation

● To strengthen the export promotion by covering the risk of exporting on credit
● Established: 30 July 1957
● Headquarters: Mumbai
● Chairman: M. Senthilnathan
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for Chemistry
 CHEMISTRY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Chemistry is the branch of science which deals with the investigation of the properties and
changes of matter. From the way how our body exchanges oxygen to how our universe was
created, all have a side of chemistry associated with it.
In food materials following chemicals are widely used,

1. Colouring agents
2. Artificial preservatives
3. Flow stabilizers
4. Binding substance
5. Artificial sweetness
6. Antioxidants
7. Minerals
8. Vitamins

Except vitamins remaining substances do not have nutritional value.

Artificial Preservatives: These prevent spoilage of food by stopping the growth of
microorganism. For example, Sodium benzoate, sodium meta bisulphate.
Artificial Sweetness: These do not impart any calories to the body. Since these substances
are excreted through urine. For example,

1. Aspartame: It is used in cool drinks and ice-creams.

2. Alitame: It is 2000 times sweeter than sucrose.

Antioxidants: These prevent the spoilage of food by preventing the oxidation of food. For

example,

1. Butylated hydroxyl tolerance (BHT)

2. Butylated hydroxyl anisole (BHA)

Dyes are coloured organic compounds that are used to impart colour to the various
substrate, including paper, leather fur, hair drugs cosmetics. Dyes are classified into Natural
dyes and Synthetic Dyes.

Chemistry of Cleansing Agents in Everyday Life

What are Soaps and Detergents?

Soaps are sodium or potassium salt of higher carboxylic acid such as stearic acid, Palmitic
acid and oleic acid whereas detergents contain a long chain of alkyl groups. Detergents in
comparison to soaps can also function in hard water.
Saponification: Alkaline hydrolysis of triesters of glycerol to form soap is known as
saponification. Soaps do not function in hard water since they precipitate in it.
How do soaps work?
Soaps are generally sodium or potassium salts of long chain fatty acids. Soap molecules have
a hydrophobic as well as hydrophilic part. While the hydrophilic part clings to the water
when washing, the hydrophobic end clings to the dirt particles. Thus, when we pour away
the water, the dirt particles wash away with the soap molecules.

Types of Soaps

1. Toilet Soaps: Potassium soaps are softer than sodium soaps.

2. Floating Soaps: These can be prepared by beating soap bubbles.
3. Transparent Soaps: This contains soap dissolved in excess of alcohol and it is
evaporated.
4. Medicated Soaps: These contain soaps by adding little amounts of Dettol, Savlon etc.
5. Laundry Soaps mainly contains Sodium rosinate, borax.

Types of Detergents
Anionic Detergent: In this, anion acts as detergents. For example, Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
Cationic Detergents: In this type, cation acts as a detergent. For example, Cetyl trimethyl
ammonium bromide.

Non-Ionic Detergents: These are neutral. The whole molecule acts as a detergent. For
example, Polyethylene glycol stearate.

Chemistry of Cosmetics in Everyday life

Cosmetics contains the following categories of chemicals.

● Emulsifier: These increase the stability of the emulsion. For example, Potassium cetyl

sulfate.
● Preservatives: These are added to cosmetics to increase their shelf life. For example,
benzyl alcohol, salicylic acid.
● Thickeners: These given an appealing consistency. For example, Cetyl alcohol, Stearic
acid.
● Emollient: These soften the skin by preventing water loss. For example,
Glycerine, zinc oxide.
 ● Glimmer and Shiners: For example, mica, bismuth oxychloride.

Other Examples of Chemistry in Everyday Life

The Expiration Date on Bottled Drinking Water:

● Have you ever wondered why there is an expiration date on a bottle of drinking
water, after all, it is just water isn’t it? Well most of us haven’t even noticed that
there is, in fact, an expiration date on that bottle. The idea behind instilling an
expiration on bottled drinking water is to standardize the packaging quality of it.
● What the actual expiration date signifies is if the expiration date is up, the taste of
the water will be different as there is a chance of the chemicals in the packaging
material ruining the quality of water.

Elements in the Human Body:

● We all know our body is about 60% water, but then what composes the rest of it?
Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Oxygen. These elements compose 96% of the
human body. Whereas the rest 4% is composed of about 60 elements. Some of these
elements include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and sulphur.

Sunblock and Sunscreen:

● There are two kinds of rays from the sun which are particularly bad for us, UV-A &
UV-B. Sunscreen’s action is as the named suggest, it functions as a screen and offers
protection from sunburns which is caused by UV-B. Whereas sunblock has more of
reflective nature and blocks both UV-A & UV-B radiations.
SSC CHSL
Study Material For Polity
 EXECUTIVE OF THE STATES
Governor
● Articles 153 to 167 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the state executive.
● The governor is the chief executive head of the state. The governor also acts as an agent of
the central government.
● Governor is appointed by the president of India.
● The Legislature of a State or a High Court has no role in the removal of a Governor.
● The Constitution lays down only two qualifications for the appointment of a person as a
governor:
o He should be a citizen of India.
o He should have completed the age of 35 years.
o Additionally, he should not belong to the state where he is appointed.
● A governor holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his
office. However, this term of five years is subject to the pleasure of the President.
● According to Article 158 (3A), where the same person is appointed as Governor of two or
more States, the emoluments and allowances payable to the Governor shall be allocated
among the States in such proportion as the President may by order determine.

Powers And Functions of the Governor

The Governor is the head of the state executive and he has enormous powers. In the exercise of
functions and powers, the Governor, except in certain cases, is to be guided by the aid and advice of
the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister (under Article 163).

Executive Powers
● He appoints the leader of the majority party in the State Legislative Assembly as the Chief
Minister of the State.
● He appoints other members of the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of the Chief
Minister.
● He acts as the chancellor of universities in the state. He also appoints the vice-chancellors of
universities in the state.
● He appoints the advocate general of a state, state election commissioner and chairman and
members of the state public service commission.
● He directly rules a State when there is the imposition of the President’s rule in the State.

Legislative Powers
● Under Article 175 Right of the Governor to address and send messages to the house or
houses of state legislature.
● Under Article 213 he can promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is not in session.
These ordinances must be approved by the state legislature within six weeks from its
reassembly.
● He can nominate one member to the State Legislative Assembly from the Anglo-Indian
Community.
 ● Every bill passed by the state legislature will become law only after his signature. But, when
a bill is sent to the Governor after it is passed by the legislature, he has the options to give
his assent to the bill or withhold his assent to the bill or return the bill for the
reconsideration of the legislature.

Financial Powers
● Money bills can be introduced in the state legislature only with his prior Recommendation.
● He can make advances out of the state Contingency Fund to meet any unforeseen
expenditure.
● He constitutes a finance commission after every five years to review the financial position
of the panchayats and the municipalities.

Judicial Powers
● He appoints the advocate -General of the State.
● He makes appointment, postings and promotions of the District Judges in consultation with
the State High Court.
● He can pardon, commute or reprieve punishment on receipt of appeals for mercy except
death sentence.

State Council of Ministers

● Article 164 clearly states that council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the
state Legislative Assembly.
● The chief minister is appointed by the governor. The other ministers are appointed by the
governor on the advice of the chief minister.
● All the members of the Council of Ministers must be the members of the State Legislature.
Those who are not the members at the time of their appointment, must secure their seats in
the Legislature within a period of 6 months.

State Legislature
● The state legislature consists of the governor and the legislative assembly.
● If the states having bicameral system the state legislature consists of the governor, the
legislative council and the legislative assembly.
● Some of the states have a unicameral system, while others have a bicameral system.
● Presently only six states have two Houses (bicameral). These are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
● Twenty-two states have unicameral system.
● The Constitution provides for the abolition or creation of legislative councils in states.
Accordingly, the Parliament can abolish a legislative council or create it.
● The legislative assembly’s maximum strength is fixed at 500 and minimum strength at 60. It
means that its strength varies from 60 to 500 depending on the population size of the state.
● Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa, the minimum number is fixed at 30 and Mizoram is 40
and Nagaland is 46.
● Duration of the legislative assembly is 5 years.
● The legislative council is a continuing chamber, it is a permanent body and is not subject to
dissolution.
● A person must be not less than 30 years of age in the case of the legislative council and not
less than 25 years of age in the case of the legislative assembly.
● Article 169 deals with the creation or abolition of Legislative Council in a State. Article 169
holds that if the state Legislative Assembly passes a resolution by a majority of not less than
2/3rd of the members present and voting and by the majority of total strength of the House,
requesting the Parliament to create or abolish the state Legislative council then the
Parliament may by law provide for the abolition and creation of the Legislative Council.
● Presiding officer of legislative assembly is Speaker and a Deputy Speaker.
● A Money Bill can be introduced only in the assembly and not in the council. The council
cannot amend or reject a money bill. It should return the bill to the assembly within 14 days.
SSC CHSL
Study Material For Geography
 LIST OF COUNTRY, CAPITAL & CURRENCY

S.No. Country Name Capital Currency Continent

1 Afghanistan Kabul Afghani Asia
2 Albania Tirane Lek Europe
3 Algeria Algiers Dinar Africa
4 Andorra Andorra la Vella Euro Europe
5 Angola Luanda New Kwanza Africa
East Caribbean
6 Antigua and Barbuda Saint John's North America
dollar
7 Argentina Buenos Aires Peso South America
8 Armenia Yerevan Dram Asia
9 Australia Canberra Australian dollar Oceania
Euro (formerly
10 Austria Vienna schilling) Europe

11 Azerbaijan Baku Manat Asia

12 The Bahamas Nassau Bahamian dollar North America
13 Bahrain Manama Bahrain dinar Asia
14 Bangladesh Dhaka Taka Asia
15 Barbados Bridgetown Barbados dollar North America
16 Belarus Minsk Belorussian ruble Europe
Euro (formerly Belgian
17 Belgium Brussels franc) Europe

18 Belize Belmopan Belize dollar North America

19 Benin Porto-Novo CFA Franc Africa
20 Bhutan Thimphu Ngultrum Asia
La Paz
21 Bolivia (administrative); Sucre Boliviano South America
(judicial)
 Bosnia and
22 Sarajevo Convertible Mark Europe
Herzegovina
23 Botswana Gaborone Pula Africa
24 Brazil Brasilia Real South America
Bandar Seri
25 Brunei Brunei dollar Asia
Begawan
26 Bulgaria Sofia Lev Europe
27 Burkina Faso Ouagadougou CFA Franc Africa
28 Burundi Gitega Burundi franc Africa
29 Cambodia Phnom Penh Riel Asia
30 Cameroon Yaounde CFA Franc Africa
31 Canada Ottawa Canadian dollar North America
Cape Verdean
32 Cape Verde Praia Africa
escudo
Central African
33 Bangui CFA Franc Africa
Republic
34 Chad N'Djamena CFA Franc Africa
35 Chile Santiago Chilean Peso South America
36 China Beijing Chinese Yuan Asia
37 Colombia Bogota Colombian Peso South America
38 Comoros Moroni Franc Africa
Republic of the
39 Brazzaville CFA Franc Africa
Congo
40 Zimbabwe Harare United States dollar Africa
41 Costa Rica San Jose Colón North America
Yamoussoukro
42 Cote d'Ivoire (official); Abidjan (de CFA Franc Africa
facto)
43 Croatia Zagreb Croatian Europe
44 Cuba Havana Cuban Peso North America
45 Cyprus Nicosia Euro Europe
46 Czech Republic Prague Koruna Europe
47 Denmark Copenhagen Danish Krone Europe
48 Djibouti Djibouti Djiboutian franc Africa
East Caribbean
49 Dominica Roseau North America
dollar
50 Dominican Republic Santo Domingo Dominican Peso North America
East Timor
51 Dili U.S. dollar Asia
(Timor-Leste)
52 Ecuador Quito U.S. dollar South America
53 Egypt Cairo Egyptian pound Africa/ Asia
54 El Salvador San Salvador Colón; U.S. dollar North America
55 Equatorial Guinea Malabo CFA Franc Africa
56 Eritrea Asmara Nakfa Africa
57 Estonia Tallinn Estonia Kroon; Euro Europe
58 Ethiopia Addis Ababa Birr Africa
59 Fiji Suva Fiji dollar Oceania

60 Finland Helsinki Euro (formerly markka) Europe

Euro (formerly French

61 France Paris franc) Europe

62 Gabon Libreville CFA Franc Africa

63 The Gambia Banjul Dalasi Africa
64 Georgia Tbilisi Lari Asia
Euro (formerly
65 Germany Berlin Europe
Deutsche mark)
66 Ghana Accra Cedi Africa
Euro (formerly
67 Greece Athens drachma) Europe

East Caribbean
68 Grenada Saint George's North America
dollar
69 Guatemala Guatemala City Quetzal North America
70 Guinea Conakry Guinean franc Oceania
71 Guinea-Bissau Bissau CFA Franc Africa
72 Guyana Georgetown Guyanese dollar South America
73 Haiti Port-au-Prince Gourde North America
74 Honduras Tegucigalpa Lempira North America
75 Hungary Budapest Forint Europe
76 Iceland Reykjavik Icelandic króna Europe
77 India New Delhi Indian Rupee Asia
78 Indonesia Jakarta Rupiah Asia
79 Iran Tehran Rial Asia
80 Iraq Baghdad Iraqi Dinar Asia
Euro (formerly Irish
81 Ireland Dublin Europe
pound [punt])
82 Israel Jerusalem* Shekel Asia
83 Italy Rome Euro (formerly lira) Europe
84 Jamaica Kingston Jamaican dollar North America
85 Japan Tokyo Yen Asia
86 Jordan Amman Jordanian dinar Asia
87 Kazakhstan Nur Sultan Tenge Asia/ Europe
88 Kenya Nairobi Kenya shilling Africa
89 Kiribati Tarawa Atoll Kiribati dollar Oceania
90 North Korea Pyongyang Won Asia
91 South Korea Seoul Won Asia
Euro (German Mark
92 Kosovo Pristina Europe
prior to 2002)
93 Kuwait Kuwait City Kuwaiti Dollar Asia
94 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek Som Asia
95 Laos Vientiane New Kip Asia
96 Latvia Riga Lats Europe
97 Lebanon Beirut Lebanese pound Asia
98 Lesotho Maseru Maluti Africa
99 Liberia Monrovia Liberian dollar Africa
100 Libya Tripoli Libyan dinar Africa
101 Liechtenstein Vaduz Swiss franc Europe
102 Lithuania Vilnius Litas Europe
Euro (formerly
103 Luxembourg Luxembourg Europe
Luxembourg franc)
104 Macedonia Skopje Denar Europe
105 Madagascar Antananarivo Malagasy Ariary Africa
106 Malawi Lilongwe Kwacha Africa
107 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Ringgit Asia
108 Maldives Male Rufiyaa Asia
109 Mali Bamako CFA Franc Africa
110 Malta Valletta Euro Europe
111 Marshall Islands Majuro U.S. Dollar Oceania
112 Mauritania Nouakchott Ouguiya Africa
113 Mauritius Port Louis Mauritian rupee African
114 Mexico Mexico City Mexican peso North America
Federated States of
115 Palikir U.S. Dollar Oceania
Micronesia

116 Moldova Chisinau Leu Europe

117 Monaco Monte Carlo Euro Europe
118 Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Togrog Asia
119 Montenegro Podgorica Euro Europe
120 Morocco Rabat Dirham Africa
121 Mozambique Maputo Metical Africa
122 Myanmar (Burma) Nay Pyi Taw Kyat Asia
123 Namibia Windhoek Namibian dollar Africa
 no official capital;
124 Nauru government offices in Australian dollar Oceania
Yaren District
125 Nepal Kathmandu Nepalese rupee Asia
Amsterdam; The
Euro (formerly
126 Netherlands Hague (seat of Europe
guilder)
government)
127 New Zealand Wellington New Zealand dollar Oceania
128 Nicaragua Managua Gold cordoba North America
129 Niger Niamey CFA Franc Africa
130 Nigeria Abuja Naira Africa
131 Norway Oslo Norwegian krone Europe
132 Oman Muscat Omani rial Asia
133 Pakistan Islamabad Pakistani rupee Asia
134 Palau Melekeok U.S. dollar Oceania
Ramallah, East
135 Palestine Palestine Pound Asia
Jerusalem
136 Panama Panama City Balboa; U.S. dollar North America
137 Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Kina Oceania
138 Paraguay Asuncion Guaraní South America
139 Peru Lima Nuevo sol (1991) South America
140 Philippines Manila Peso Asia
141 Poland Warsaw Zloty Europe
142 Portugal Lisbon Euro (formerly escudo) Europe/ Asia

143 Qatar Doha Qatari riyal Asia

144 Romania Bucharest Romanian Rupee Europe
145 Russia Moscow Ruble Europe/ Asia
146 Rwanda Kigali Rwandan franc Africa
East Caribbean
147 Saint Kitts and Nevis Basseterre North America
dollar
 East Caribbean
148 Saint Lucia Castries North America
dollar
Saint Vincent and the East Caribbean
149 Kingstown North America
Grenadines dollar
150 Samoa Apia Tala Oceania
151 San Marino San Marino Euro Europe
Sao Tome and
152 Sao Tome Dobra Africa
Principe
153 Saudi Arabia Riyadh Riyal Asia
154 Senegal Dakar CFA Franc Africa
155 Serbia Belgrade Serbian Dinar Europe
156 Seychelles Victoria Seychelles rupee Africa
157 Sierra Leone Freetown Leone Africa
158 Singapore Singapore Singapore dollar Asia
159 Slovakia Bratislava Euro Europe
Slovenian tolar; euro
160 Slovenia Ljubljana Europe
(as of 1/1/07)
Solomon Islands
161 Solomon Islands Honiara Oceania
dollar
162 Somalia Mogadishu Somali shilling Africa

Pretoria
(administrative); Cape
163 South Africa Town (legislative); Rand Africa
Bloemfontein
(judiciary)

164 South Sudan Juba Sudanese Pound Africa

165 Spain Madrid Euro (formerly peseta) Europe/ Africa

Colombo; Sri
166 Sri Lanka Jayewardenepura Sri Lankan rupee Asia
Kotte (legislative)
167 Sudan Khartoum Sudanese Pound Africa
168 Suriname Paramaribo Surinamese dollar South America
169 Swaziland Mbabane Lilangeni Africa
170 Sweden Stockholm Krona Europe
171 Switzerland Berne Swiss franc Europe
172 Syria Damascus Syrian pound Asia
173 Taiwan Taipei Taiwan dollar Asia
174 Tajikistan Dushanbe somoni Asia
Dar es Salaam;
175 Tanzania Dodoma (legislative) Tanzanian shilling Africa

176 Thailand Bangkok Baht Asia

177 Togo Lome CFA Franc Africa
178 Tonga Nuku'alofa Pa'anga Oceania
Trinidad and Tobago
179 Trinidad and Tobago Port-of-Spain South America
dollar
180 Tunisia Tunis Tunisian dinar Africa
181 Turkey Ankara Turkish lira (YTL) Europe/ Asia
182 Turkmenistan Ashgabat Manat Asia
Vaiaku village,
183 Tuvalu Funafuti province Tuvaluan Dollar Oceania

Ugandan new
184 Uganda Kampala Africa
shilling
185 Ukraine Kiev Hryvnia Europe
186 United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi U.A.E. Dirham Asia
187 United Kingdom London Pound sterling Europe
United States of
188 Washington D.C. Dollar North America
America
189 Uruguay Montevideo Uruguay peso South America
190 Uzbekistan Tashkent Uzbekistani sum Asia
191 Vanuatu Port-Vila Vatu Oceania
192 Vatican City Vatican City Euro Europe
193 Venezuela Caracas Bolivar South America
194 Vietnam Hanoi Dong Asia
195 Yemen Sanaa Rial Asia
196 Zambia Lusaka Kwacha Africa
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for GK
 HONOURS & AWARDS

Padma Vibhushan Awardees 2021

S.No. Name Field State/Country

1. Shri Shinzo Abe Public Affairs Japan

Shri S P Balasubramaniam
2. Art Tamil Nadu
(Posthumous)

3. Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde Medicine Karnataka

Shri Narinder Singh Kapany

4. Science and Engineering United States of America
(Posthumous)

5. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Others- Spiritualism Delhi

6. Shri B. B. Lal Others- Archaeology Delhi

7. Shri Sudarshan Sahoo Art Odisha

Padma Bhushan Awardees 2021

Ms. Krishnan Nair

8. Art Kerala
Shantakumari Chithra
Shri Tarun Gogoi
9. Public Affairs Assam
(Posthumous)

10. Shri Chandrashekhar Kambara Literature and Education Karnataka

11. Ms. Sumitra Mahajan Public Affairs Madhya Pradesh

12. Shri Nripendra Misra Civil Service Uttar Pradesh

Shri Ram Vilas Paswan

13. Public Affairs Bihar
(Posthumous)

14. Shri Keshubhai Patel Public Affairs Gujarat

 (Posthumous)

Shri Kalbe Sadiq

15. Others-Spiritualism Uttar Pradesh
(Posthumous)

16. Shri Rajnikant Devidas Shroff Trade and Industry Maharashtra

17. Shri Tarlochan Singh Public Affairs Haryana

Padma Shri Awardees 2021

18. Shri Gulfam Ahmed Art Uttar Pradesh

19. Ms. P. Anitha Sports Tamil Nadu

20. Shri Rama Swamy Annavarapu Art Andhra Pradesh

21. Shri Subbu Arumugam Art Tamil Nadu

22. Shri Prakasarao Asavadi Literature and Education Andhra Pradesh

23. Ms. Bhuri Bai Art Madhya Pradesh

24. Shri Radhe Shyam Barle Art Chhattisgarh

25. Shri Dharma Narayan Barma Literature and Education West Bengal

26. Ms. Lakhimi Baruah Social Work Assam

27. Shri Biren Kumar Basak Art West Bengal

28. Ms. Rajni Bector Trade and Industry Punjab

29. Shri Peter Brook Art United Kingdom

30. Ms. Sangkhumi Bualchhuak Social Work Mizoram

 Shri Gopiram Bargayn
31. Art Assam
Burabhakat

32. Ms. Bijoya Chakravarty Public Affairs Assam

33. Shri Sujit Chattopadhyay Literature and Education West Bengal

Shri Jagdish Chaudhary

34. Social Work Uttar Pradesh
(Posthumous)

35. Shri Tsultrim Chonjor Social Work Ladakh

36. Ms. Mouma Das Sports West Bengal

United States of
37. Shri Srikant Datar Literature and Education
America

38. Shri Narayan Debnath Art West Bengal

39. Ms. Chutni Devi Social Work Jharkhand

40. Ms. Dulari Devi Art Bihar

41. Ms. Radhe Devi Art Manipur

42. Ms. Shanti Devi Social Work Odisha

43. Shri Wayan Dibia Art Indonesia

44. Shri Dadudan Gadhavi Literature & Education Gujarat

Shri Parshuram Atmaram

45. Art Maharashtra
Gangavane

46. Shri Jai Bhagwan Goyal Literature and Education Haryana

47. Shri Jagadish Chandra Halder Literature and Education West Bengal

48. Shri Mangal Singh Hazowary Literature and Education Assam

49. Ms. Anshu Jamsenpa Sports Arunachal Pradesh

50. Ms. Purnamasi Jani Art Odisha

51. Matha B. Manjamma Jogati Art Karnataka

52. Shri Damodaran Kaithapram Art Kerala

53. Shri Namdeo C Kamble Literature and Education Maharashtra

Shri Maheshbhai & Shri

54. NareshbhaiKanodia Art Gujarat
(Duo)* (Posthumous)

55. Shri Rajat Kumar Kar Literature and Education Odisha

Shri Rangasami
56. Lakshminarayana Literature and Education Karnataka
Kashyap

57. Ms. Prakash Kaur Social Work Punjab

58. Shri Nicholas Kazanas Literature and Education Greece

59. Shri K Kesavasamy Art Puducherry

60. Shri Ghulam Rasool Khan Art Jammu and Kashmir

61. Shri Lakha Khan Art Rajasthan

62. Ms. Sanjida Khatun Art Bangladesh

63. Shri Vinayak Vishnu Khedekar Art Goa

64. Ms. Niru Kumar Social Work Delhi

65. Ms. Lajwanti Art Punjab

 United States of
66. Shri Rattan Lal Science and Engineering
America
Others Grassroots
67. Shri Ali Manikfan Innovation Lakshadweep

68. Shri Ramachandra Manjhi Art Bihar

69. Shri Dulal Manki Art Assam

70. Shri Nanadro B Marak Others- Agriculture Meghalaya

71. Shri Rewben Mashangva Art Manipur

72. Shri Chandrakant Mehta Literature and Education Gujarat

73. Dr. Rattan Lal Mittal Medicine Punjab

74. Shri Madhavan Nambiar Sports Kerala

75. Shri Shyam Sundar Paliwal Social Work Rajasthan

Dr. Chandrakant Sambhaji

76. Medicine Delhi
Pandav

77. Dr. J N Pande (Posthumous) Medicine Delhi

Literature and
78. Shri Solomon Pappaiah Tamil Nadu
Education-Journalism

79. Ms. Pappammal Others- Agriculture Tamil Nadu

80. Dr. Krishna Mohan Pathi Medicine Odisha

Ms. Jaswantiben Jamnadas

81. Trade and Industry Maharashtra
Popat

82. Shri Girish Prabhune Social Work Maharashtra

83. Shri Nanda Prusty Literature and Education Odisha

84. Shri K K Ramachandra Pulavar Art Kerala

85. Shri Balan Putheri Literature and Education Kerala

86. Ms. Birubala Rabha Social Work Assam

87. Shri Kanaka Raju Art Telangana

88. Ms. Bombay Jayashri Ramnath Art Tamil Nadu

89. Shri Satyaram Reang Art Tripura

90. Dr. Dhananjay Diwakar Sagdeo Medicine Kerala

91. Shri Ashok Kumar Sahu Medicine Uttar Pradesh

Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Singh

92. Medicine Uttarakhand
Sanjay

93. Ms. Sindhutai Sapkal Social Work Maharashtra

Shri Chaman Lal Sapru

94. Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir
(Posthumous)
Literature and
95. Shri Roman Sarmah Assam
Education-Journalism

96. Shri Imran Shah Literature and Education Assam

97. Shri Prem Chand Sharma Others- Agriculture Uttarakhand

98. Shri Arjun Singh Shekhawat Literature and Education Rajasthan

99. Shri Ram Yatna Shukla Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh

100. Shri Jitender Singh Shunty Social Work Delhi

101. Shri Kartar Paras Ram Singh Art Himachal Pradesh

102. Shri Kartar Singh Art Punjab

103. Dr. Dilip Kumar Singh Medicine Bihar

104. Shri Chandra Shekhar Singh Others-Agriculture Uttar Pradesh

105. Ms. Sudha Hari Narayan Singh Sports Uttar Pradesh

106. Shri Virender Singh Sports Haryana

Ms. Mridula Sinha

107. (Posthumous) Literature and Education Bihar

Shri K C Sivasankar
108. Art Tamil Nadu
(Posthumous)

109. Guru Maa Kamali Soren Social Work West Bengal

110. Shri Marachi Subburaman Social Work Tamil Nadu

Shri P Subramanian
111. Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu
(Posthumous)

112. Ms. Nidumolu Sumathi Art Andhra Pradesh

113. Shri Kapil Tiwari Literature and Education Madhya Pradesh

114. Father Vallés (Posthumous) Literature and Education Spain

Dr. Thiruvengadam
115. Medicine Tamil Nadu
Veeraraghavan (Posthumous)

116. Shri Sridhar Vembu Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu

117. Shri K Y Venkatesh Sports Karnataka

118. Ms. Usha Yadav Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh

119. Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir Public Affairs Bangladesh

Gallantry Awardees 2021

16th Battalion, The Bihar

Maha Vir Chakra Col Bikumalla Santosh Babu (Posthumous)
Regiment
4th Battalion, The Parachute
Kirti Chakra Sub Sanjeev Kumar (Posthumous)
Regiment
Kirti Chakra Shri Pintu Kumar Singh (Posthumous) CRPF
Shri Shyam Narayan Singh Yadava
Kirti Chakra Shyam Singh
(Posthumous)
Kirti Chakra Shri Vinod Kumar (Posthumous) CRPF

Kirti Chakra Shri Rahul Mathur CRPF

16th Battalion, The Bihar
Vir Chakra Nb Sub Nuduram Soren (Posthumous)
Regiment
Vir Chakra Hav K Palani (Posthumous) 81 Field Regiment

Vir Chakra Hav Tejinder Singh 3 Medium Regiment

Vir Chakra Nk Deepak Singh (Posthumous) 16th Battalion, Bihar Regiment

Vir Chakra Sep Gurtej Singh (Posthumous) 3rd Battalion, Punjab Regiment

Shaurya Chakra Maj Anuj Sood (Posthumous) 21st Battalion, Rashtriya Rifles

Shaurya Chakra Rfn Pranab Jyoti Das 6th Battalion, Assam Rifles
4th Battalion, The Parachute
Shaurya Chakra Pts Sonam Tshering Tamang
Regiment
Shaurya Chakra Shri Arshad Khan (Posthumous) Jammu and Kashmir Police

Shaurya Chakra Shri Gh Mustafa Barah (Posthumous) Jammu and Kashmir Police

Shaurya Chakra Shri Naseer Ahmad Kolie (Posthumous) Jammu and Kashmir Police

Shaurya Chakra Shri Bilal Ahmad Magray (Posthumous) Jammu and Kashmir Police
SSC CHSL EXAM
Study Material For Biology
 LIST OF INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES
Invention/Discovery Name of the Inventor Year of Invention
Automatic Calculator Wilhelm Schickard 1623
Air Conditioner Willis Carrier 1902
Anemometer Leon Battista Alberti 1450
Animation J. Stuart Blackton —
Atom Bomb Julius Robert Oppenheimer 1945
Aspirin Dr. Felix Hoffman 1899
Airplane Wilber and Orville Wright 1903
Adhesive tape Richard G. Drew 1923
Bacteria Antoni van Leeuwenhoek 1676
Bifocal Lens Benjamin Franklin 1779
Barometer Evangelista Torricelli 1643
Barbed Wire Joseph F. Glidden 1873
Blood Group Karl Lansdsteiner 1900s
Ball Point Pen John Loud —
Bicycle Tyres John Boyd Dunlop 1888
Pedal Driven Bicycle Kirkpatrick Macmillan 1839
Cell Robert Hooke 1665
Cell Nucleus Robert Brown 1831
Celluloid Alexander Parkes 1861
Chloroform Sir James Young Simpson —
Cine Camera Wm. Friese-Greene 1889
Circulation of blood William Harvey 1628
Clock Mechanical Hsing and Ling-Tsan 1725
Diesel Engine Rudolf Diesel 1892
Centigrade Scale Anders Celsius 1742
Chlorine Carl Wilhelm Scheele 1774
Dynamite Alfred B. Nobel 1867
Diesel Engine Rudolf Diesel 1895
Electric stove/cooker William S. Hadaway 1896
Electroscope William Gilbert 1600s
Electric Fan Schuyler Wheeler 1882
Electric Battery Volta 1800
Elevator Elisha G. Otis 1852
Electric Motor (DC) Thomas Davenport 1873
Electromagnet William Sturgeon 1824
Fountain Pen Petrache Poenaru 1827
Fluorine André-Marie Ampère 1810
Gramophone Thomas Edison 1878
Hydrogen Henry Cavendish 1766
Helicopter Igor Sikorsky 1939
Homeopathy &
Samuel Hahnemann 1796 & 1810
Allopathy
Hovercraft Christopher Cockerell 1959
Hot Air Balloon Josef & Etienne Montgolfier 1783
Helium Jules Janssen 1868
Insulin Sir Frederick Banting 1923
Jet Engine Hans Von Ohain 1936
Laws of Heredity Gregor Mendel —
Lightning Conductor Benjamin Franklin 1752
Locomotive George Stephenson 1804
Laser Theodore Maiman 1960
Light Bulb Thomas Edison 1854
Motorcycle Gottlieb Daimler 1885
Microscope Zacharis Janssen 1590
Microphone Alexander Graham Bell 1876
Machine Gun Richard Gatling 1861
Neon Lamp Georges Claude 1915
Oxygen Joseph Priestley 1774
Ozone Christian Schonbein 1839
Piano Bartolomeo Cristofori 1700
Printing Press Johannes Gutenberg 1440
Parachute Louis-Sebastien Lenormand 1783
Periodic Table Dmitri Mendeleev 1869
Penicillin Alexander Fleming 1928
Pacemaker Rune Elmqvist 1952
Petrol for Motor Car Karl Benz 1885
Plague Vaccine Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine 1892
Polio Vaccine Jonas Edward Salk –
Refrigerator William Cullen 1748
Rabies Vaccine Louis Pasteur 1885
Radium Marie & Pierre Curie 1898
Rubber (vulcanized) Charles Goodyear 1841
Rocket Engine Robert H. Goddard 1926
Radio Guglielmo Marconi 1894
Richter Scale Charles Richter 1935
Ship (Turbine) Charles Parsons 1894
Smallpox Vaccine Edward Jenner 1796
Steam Ship Robert Fulton 1807
Steam Boat Robert Fulton 1786
Structure of DNA James Watson & Francis Crick 1952
Submarine Cornelis Drebbel 1620
Stethoscope Rene Laennec 1816
Saxophone Adolphe Sax 1846
Sewing Machine Elias Howe 1846
Steam-Powered Airship Henri Giffard 1852
Soft Contact lenses Otto Wichterle 1961
Synthesizer Dr. Robert Arthur Moog 1964
Thermometer Galileo 1593
Theory of Evolution Charles Darwin 1858
Typewriter Christopher Latham Sholes —
Transistors John Bardeen, William Shockley & Walter Brattain 1948
Telephone Graham Bell 1874
Vaccine Edward Jenner 1796
Valve Radio Sir J.A Fleming 1904
Vacuum Cleaner Hubert Cecil Booth 1901
Vitamin A Frederick Gowland Hopkins 1912
Vitamin B Christiaan Eijkman 1897
Vitamin C Albert Szent-Gyorgi –
Vitamin K Henrik Dam 1929
Vitamin E Herbert McLean Evans & Katherine Scott Bishop
Windshield wipers Mary Anderson 1903
World Wide Web Tim Berners Lee with Robert Cailliau  1989
X-ray Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen 1895
Xerox Machine Chester Carlson 1928
SSC CHSL
Study Material For Polity
 PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
Parliament
● The parliament is the legislative organ of the Union government.
● The Parliament of India is bicameral (i.e. consists of two houses) namely Rajya Sabha (the
Council of States) and Lok Sabha (the House of the People).

Rajya Sabha
● The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha is fixed at 250, out of which, 238 are to be the
representatives of the states and union territories and 12 are nominated by the president.
● Presently the Rajya Sabha has 245 members. Of these, 229 members represent the states, 4
members represent the union territories and 12 members are nominated by the president.
● Members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the ‘State Legislative
Assemblies’ in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the
single transferable vote. This process of election is called “indirect election” as they are not
elected by the people directly.
● The Constitution lays down the following qualifications for a person to be chosen a member
of the Rajya Sabha:
o He should be a citizen of India.
o He should not be less than 30 years of age.
o He should not hold any office of profit under any Government.
● The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution of India deals with the allocation of seats in the
Rajya Sabha to the states and union territories.
● The Rajya Sabha (first constituted in 1952) is a continuing chamber. It is a permanent body
and not subject to dissolution. However, one-third of its members retire every second year.
● Representation of the People Act (1951) provided that the term of office of a member of the
Rajya Sabha is six years.
● Rajya Sabha cannot reject or amend a money bill.
● The vice-president of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
● The Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha is elected by the members of the Rajya Sabha.
● Rajya Sabha authorize the Parliament to create new All-India Services common to both the
Centre and states.

Lok Sabha
● The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 552. Out of this, 530 members are to be
the representatives of the states, 20 members are to be the representatives of the union
territories and 2 members are to be nominated by the president from the Anglo-Indian
community.
● Presently the Lok Sabha has 545 members. Of these, 530 members represent the states, 13
members represent the union territories and 2 Anglo-Indian members are nominated by
the President.
● Lok Shaba normal term is five years from the date of its first meeting after the general
elections, after which it automatically dissolves.
● The Constitution lays down the following qualifications for a person to be chosen a member
 of the Lok Sabha:
o He should be a citizen of India.
o He should not be less than 25 years of age.
o He should not hold any office of profit under the Union or State Government.
● The Speaker and deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha.
● Lok sabha speaker does not vote in the first instance. But he can exercise a casting vote in
the case of a tie. In other words, only when the House is divided equally on any question,
the Speaker is entitled to vote. Such vote is called casting vote, and its purpose is to resolve
a deadlock.
● Lok Sabha speaker presides over a joint setting of the two Houses of Parliament. Such a
sitting is summoned by the President to settle a deadlock between the two Houses on a bill.
● Lok Sabha speaker appoints the chairman of all the parliamentary committees of the Lok
Sabha and supervises their functioning.
● When Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker does not vacate his office and continues till the
newly-elected Lok Sabha meets.
● In the following cases, a member of Parliament vacates his seat:
o House can declare the seat of a member vacant if he is absent from all its meetings
for a period of sixty days without its permission;
o Person cannot be a member of both the Parliament and the state legislature at the
same time. If a person is so elected, his seat in Parliament becomes vacant if he does
not resign his seat in the state legislature within 14 days;
o If a person is elected to both the Houses of Parliament, he must intimate within 10
days in which House he desires to serve. In default of such intimation, his seat in the
Rajya Sabha becomes vacant.

Zero Hour
● The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the
day.
● It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures and has been in existence
since 1962.

Important Points About Parliament

● The Non confidence motion needs the support of 50 members to be admitted.
● Ordinary Bill can be introduced either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. It can be
introduced either by a minister or by a private member.
● Money bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and not in the Rajya Sabha. It can be
introduced only by a minister.
● Rajya Sabha cannot amend or reject a Money Bill. It should return the bill to the Lok Sabha
within 14 days, either with recommendations or without recommendations.
● The Speaker of Lok Sabha presides over a joint sitting of the two Houses.
● The final power to decide whether a particular bill is a Money Bill or not is vested in the
Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
● The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months. In
 other words, the Parliament should meet at least twice a year.
● Parliament Sessions:
o Budget Session - February to May
o Monsoon Session - July to September
o Winter Session - November to December
● Ganesh Vasudev Mavalanker is first speaker of Lok sabha.
● Parliament is also vested with powers to impeach the President and to remove Judges of the
Supreme Court and High Courts, Chief Election Commissioner and Comptroller and Auditor
General of India in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Constitution.

Committees of the Parliament

Broadly, parliamentary Committees are of two kinds - Standing Committee and Ad Hoc
Committees. The former is permanent (constituted every year or periodically) and work on a
continuous basis, while the latter is temporary and ceases to exist on completion of the task
assigned to them.

Standing Committees

On the basis of the nature of functions performed by them, standing Committees can be classified
into the following six categories:

1. Financial Committees
a) Public Accounts Committee
b) Estimates Committee
c) Committee on Public Undertakings

2. Departmental Standing Committees (24)

3. Committees to Inquire
a) Committee on Petitions
b) Committee of Privileges
c) Ethics Committee

4. Committees to Scrutinize and Control

a) Committee on Government Assurances
b) Committee on Subordinate Legislation
c) Committee on Papers Laid on the Table
d) Committee on Welfare of SC’s and ST’s
e) Committee on Empowerment of Women
f) Joint Committee on Offices of Profit
5. Committees Relating to the Day-to-Day Business of the House
a) Business Advisory Committee
 b) Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions
c) Rules Committee
d) Committee on Absence of Members from Sittings of the House

6. House-Keeping Committees or Service Committees

a) General Purposes Committee
b) House Committee
c) Library Committee
d) Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members.

Ad Hoc Committee
Ad Hoc Committees can be divided into two categories, that is, Inquiry Committees and Advisory
Committees.
SSC CHSL EXAM
Study Material For Polity
 POLITICAL PARTIES
A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the
government. They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote
the collective good. Since there can be different views on what is good for all, parties try to
persuade people why their policies are better than others. They seek to implement these policies by
winning popular support through elections.
Political parties that wish to contest local, state or national elections are required to be registered
by the Election Commission of India (EC). 
A political party has three components: (i) the leaders, (ii) the active members and (iii) the
followers.

Functions of a Party
● they nominate candidates during elections; 
● they campaign to obtain support for their candidates in the elections; 
● they place objectives and programmes before the voters through their manifestos;
● those securing the majority in elections form the government and enact and implement the
policies; 
● Those not in power form opposition and keep a constant check on the government;
● they form opposition when they are in minority in the legislature and constantly put
pressure on the government for proper governance;
● they educate people and help in formulating and shaping public opinion; 
● they articulate peoples’ demands and convey them to the government; and 
● they provide a linkage between people and governmental institutions. 

Types of Political Systems in the World

There are three kinds of political system in the world mentioned below:
● One party system in which only one party exist and rule the country; opposition parties are
not allowed. This kind of system is followed in China.
● Two party system in which only two major parties exist such as in the USA and the UK.
● Multi-party system in which includes multiple parties, for example, in India and France.

India follows multi-party system and has the largest number of political parties in the world. This
kind of system provides a multiple option to the people to choose from. It also gives opportunity to
the regional parties to participate in national politics. On the other hand, the negative aspects of
this system are the hung parliaments, hung assemblies, coalition governments and unstable
governments.
Indian governance system has multi-party system and the political parties are categorized as −
National Political Party; State or Regional (level) Political Party. The recognition and status of
political parties are reviewed and authorized by the Election Commission of India.
There are currently 8 National Parties in India:
1. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
2. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
3. Communist Party of India (CPI)
4. Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M)
5. Indian National Congress (INC)
6. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
7. Trinamool Congress (TMC)
8. National Peoples’ Party (NPP)

NPP is the first national party from the North-East region.

Eligibility of National Political Party

To be eligible for a ‘National Political Party of India,’ the Election Commission has set the following
criteria –
● It secures at least six percent of the valid votes polled in any four or more states, at a general
election to the House of the People or, to the State Legislative Assembly; and
● In addition, it wins at least four seats in the House of the People from any State or States.

OR
● It wins at least two percent seats in the House of the People (i.e., 11 seats in the existing
House having 543 members), and these members are elected from at least three different
States.

Eligibility of State Political Party

To be eligible for a ‘State Political Party,’ the Election Commission has set the following criteria –
● It secures at least six percent of the valid votes polled in the State at a general election,
either to the House of the People or to the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned; and
● In addition, it wins at least two seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned.
OR
● It wins at least three percent (3%) of the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of
the State, or at least three seats in the Assembly, whichever is more.
SSC CHSL EXAM
Study Material For Biology
 PLANT DISEASES
Viral Diseases in Plants
Disease Plants Affected
Bud Blight Soy beans
Curly top Beans, tomato, sugar beets, etc.
Tomato, tobacco, corn, legume, potato, pea, sugar beet, cucumber,
Mosaic leaf
maize, cauliflower, sugarcane, bean, etc.
Yellowing of leaf Barley, sugar beet, potato, etc.
Spotted Wilt Virus Tomato, capsicum, etc.
Chlorosis Virus Tomato, capsicum, etc.

Bacterial Diseases in Plants

Disease Plants Affected
Blights Vegetable crops, fruit trees, etc.
Bacterial wilts Corn, tobacco, potatoes, alfalfa, tomatoes, etc.
Bacterial speck Fruits and leaves of different plants
Cankers Woody plants
Leaf spot Cotton, beans, peas, etc.
Soft rots Fleshy or succulent plant parts
Fire Bligh Rosebushes, pome fruit trees, etc.

Fungal Diseases in Plants

Disease Plants Affected
Cankers Largely woody plants
Downy mildew Grains, onions, cucumbers, alfalfa, etc.
Ergot Rye, barley, wheat and other grasses
Powdery mildew Grains, legumes
Tuber diseases Potato, sweet potato, etc.
Rusts Wheat, barley, rye, oats, etc.
Root rots All types of plants
Scab Wheat, barley, rye, potato, etc.
Smuts Oats, barley, corn, wheat, grasses, etc.
Wilts Potatoes, alfalfa, etc.
Cavity spot Carrot
Leaf blight Carrot
Ring spot Brassicas

Diseases by Nematodes in Plants

Disease Plants Affected
Hairy root Sugar beets, potatoes, soybeans, etc.
Root lesions Different species of plants get affected
Root-knot Tomatoes, peanuts, etc.
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for GK
 IMPORTANT DAYS & DATES

JANUARY
1 January – Global Family Day
4 January – World Braille Day
9 January – NRI day / Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
10 January – World Hindi Day
12 January – National youth day
15 January – Army Day
23 January – Birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
24 January – National Girl Child Day
25 January – National Voters Day
26 January – International Customs Day
26 January – Republic Day
26 January – International Customs day
27 January – International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust
28 January – Birth anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai
28 January – Data Protection Day
30 January – World Leprosy Eradication Day

FEBRUARY
2 February – World Wetlands Day
4 February – World Cancer Day
5 February – Kashmir Day
6 February – International day of Zero Tolerance to female genital mutilation
11 February – International day Women and girls in Science
12 February – National Productivity Day
13 February – World Radio Day
20 February – World Day of Social Justice
21 February – International Mother language day
22 February – World Thinking day
22 February – World Scout Day
23 February – World Peace and Understanding Day
28 February – National Science Day

MARCH
1 March – World Civil Defence Day
3 March – World Wildlife Day
3 March – World Hearing Day
4 March – World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation
8 March – International Women’s Day
12 March – Commonwealth Day
15 March – World Consumer Rights Day
20 March – International Day of Happiness
21 March – International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
21 March – International Day of Forests
21 March – World Down Syndrome Day
21 March – World Poetry Day
22 March – World Water Day
23 March – World Meteorological Day
24 March – World Tuberculosis Day
25 March – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave
Trade
27 March – World Theatre Day 2018

APRIL
2 April – World Autism Awareness Day
4 April – National Day for Mine Awareness and assistance in Mine action
5 April – National Maritime Day
7 April – World Health Day
10 April – World Homeopathy Day
11 April – National Safe Motherhood Day
11 April – National Pet Day
17 April – World Hemophilia Day
18 April – World Heritage Day
19 April – World Liver Day
21 April – Civil Services Day
22 April – World Earth Day
23 April – World Book and Copyright Day
24 April – National Panchayati Raj Day
25 April – World Malaria Day
26 April – World Intellectual Property Day
28 April – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
28 April – World Veterinary Day
29 April – International Dance Day
30 April – Ayushman Bharat Diwas

MAY
1 May – International Labour Day
1 May – World Asthma Day
3 May – World Press Freedom Day
8 May – World Red Cross Day
11 May – National Technology Day
12 May – International Nurses Day
15 May – International Day of Families
17 May – World hypertension day
17 May – International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
17 May – World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
18 May – International Museum Day
21 May – Anti-Terrorism Day
22 May – International Day for Biological Diversity
29 May – International Day of UN Peacekeepers
31 May – Anti-Tobacco Day

JUNE
3 June – World Bicycle Day
5 June – World Environment Day
8 June – World Oceans Day
12 June – World Day Against Child Labour
13 June – International Albinism Awareness Day
14 June – World Blood Donors
15 June – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
17 June – World Day to Combat Desertification
20 June – World Refugee Day
21 June – International Day of Yoga
23 June – United Nations Public Service Day
25 June – Day of the Seafarer
26 June – International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
27 June – International Diabetes Day
29 June – National Statistics Day

JULY
1 July – National Doctors’ Day
7 July – International Day of Cooperatives
11 July – World Population Day
17 July – World Day for International Justice
18 July – Nelson Mandela International Day
28 July – World Hepatitis Day
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons

AUGUST
9 August – International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
12 August – International Youth Day
15 August – Independence Day
19 August – World Humanitarian Day
21 August – World senior citizen day
23 August – International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
29 August – National Sports Day (Birthday of Dhyan Chand)

SEPTEMBER
2 September – World Coconut Day
5 September – Teacher’s Day (Dr. Radhakrishnan’s Birth Day)
8 September – World Literacy Day
14 September – Hindi day, World First Aid Day
15 September – International Day of Democracy
16 September – International Day for Preservation
16 September – World Ozone Day
21 September – International Day of Peace
21 September – World Alzheimer’s Day
23 September – International Day of Sign Languages
25 September – Social Justice Day
27 September – World Maritime Day
27 September – World Tourism Day
28 September – World Rabies Day
29 September – World Heart Day
30 September – International Translation Day

OCTOBER
1 October – International Day of Older Persons
2 October – International day of Non-Violence
3 October – World Nature Day, World Habitat Day
5 October – World Teacher's Day
8 October – Indian Airforce Day
9 October – World Post Day
10 October – World Mental Health Day
11 October – International Day of the Girl Child
13 October – International Day for Disaster Reduction
14 October – International Standards Day
15 October – International Day of Rural Women
16 October – World Food Day
17 October – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
20 October – World Osteoporosis Day
20 October – World Statistics Day
24 October – United Nations Day
24 October – World Polio Day
27 October – World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
31 October – Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day)

NOVEMBER
5 November – World tsunami day
5 November – World Radiography Day
7 November – National Cancer Awareness Day
9 November – Legal Services Day
14 November – Children’s Day; Diabetes Day
17 November – National Epilepsy Day
17 November – National Journalism Day
20 November – Africa Industrialization Day
21 November – World Television Day
29 November – International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People

DECEMBER
1 December – World AIDS Day
2 December – World Computer Literacy Day
2 December – International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
2 December – National Pollution Control Day
3 December – World Day of the Handicapped
3 December – World Conservation Day
4 December – Indian Navy Day
6 December – Ambedkar Remembrance Day ( Mahaparinirvana diwas)
7 December – Indian Armed Forces Flag Day
9 December – The International Day Against Corruption
10 December – Human Rights Day; International Day of Broadcasting
11 December – International Mountain Day
14 December – World Energy Conservation Day
16 December – Vijay Diwas
18 December – Minorities Rights Day (India)
19 December – Goa’s Liberation Day
20 December – International Human Solidarity Day
22 December – National Mathematics Day
23 December – Kisan Divas (Farmer’s Day) (India)
24 December – National Consumers Day
25 December – Christmas Day
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for General Awareness
 PUBLIC FINANCE IN INDIA
● Public finance is a study of the financial aspects of Government. It is a branch of economics
which deals with government revenue and government expenditure.
● Public finance gets the reference in the ancient treatise Arthashastra of Kautilya which
covers ‘treasury, sources of revenue, accounts and audit’ in a very detailed way.

Budget
● The budget is an annual financial statement which shows the estimated income and
expenditure of the Government for the forthcoming financial year.
● India is a federal economy; hence public budget is divided into two layers of the
Government.
● According to the Indian Constitution, the Central Government has to submit annual financial
statement, i.e., Union Budget under Article 112 to the Parliament and each State
Government has to submit the same for the State in the Legislative Assembly under Article
202.

● On the basis of expenditure on revenue account and other accounts, a budget can be
presented in two ways:
o Revenue Budget: It consists of revenue receipts and revenue expenditure. Moreover,
the revenue receipts can be categorized into tax revenue and non-tax revenue.
Revenue expenditure can also be categorized into plan revenue expenditure and
non-plan revenue expenditure.
 o Capital Budget: It consists of capital receipts and capital expenditure. In this case, the
main sources of capital receipts are loans, advances etc. On the other side capital
expenditure can be categorized into plan capital expenditure and non-plan capital
expenditure.
Revenue Receipts
● Revenue receipts are those receipts that do not lead to a claim on the government. They are
therefore termed non-redeemable. They are divided into tax and non-tax revenue.
● Tax revenues, an important component of revenue receipts. The types of taxes are:
o Direct taxes - Personal income tax, Corporation tax, wealth tax, gift tax, etc.
o Indirect taxes - customs duties (taxes imposed on goods imported into and exported
out of India), GST, etc.
● Non-tax revenue of the government mainly consists of interest receipts on account of loans
by the central government, dividends and profits on investments made by the government,
fees and other receipts for services rendered by the government. Cash grants-in-aid from
foreign countries and international organisations are also included.

Revenue Expenditure
● Revenue Expenditure is expenditure incurred for purposes other than the creation of
physical or financial assets of the government.
● It relates to those expenses incurred for the normal functioning of the government
departments and various services, interest payments on debt incurred by the government,
and grants given to state governments and other parties.
● Budget documents classify total expenditure into plan and non-plan expenditure.
● Plan revenue expenditure related to central Plans (Five Year Plans) and central assistance for
State and Union Territory plans.
● Non-plan revenue expenditure, the more important component of revenue expenditure,
covers a vast range of general, economic and social services of the government. The main
items of non-plan expenditure are interest payments, defence services, subsidies, salaries
and pensions.

Capital Receipts
● All non-revenue receipts of a government are known as capital receipts.
● The government receives money by way of loans or from the sale of its assets. Loans will
have to be returned to the agencies from which they have been borrowed. Thus, they create
liability.
● Sale of government assets, like sale of shares in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) which is
referred to as PSU disinvestment, reduce the total amount of financial assets of the
government.
● All those receipts of the government which create liability or reduce financial assets are
termed as capital receipts (Provident fund (PF), Postal Deposits, various small saving
schemes and the government bonds sold to the public).

Capital Expenditure
 ● There are expenditures of the government which result in creation of physical or financial
assets or reduction in financial liabilities. This includes expenditure on the acquisition of
land, building, machinery, equipment, investment in shares, and loans and advances by the
central government to state and union territory governments, PSUs and other parties.
● Capital expenditure is also categorised as plan and non-plan in the budget documents.
● Plan capital expenditure, like its revenue counterpart, relates to central plan and central
assistance for state and union territory plans.
● Non-plan capital expenditure covers various general, social and economic services provided
by the government.

Balanced, Surplus and Deficit Budget

Balanced Budget
● The government may spend an amount equal to the revenue it collects. This is known as a
balanced budget.
Government’s estimated Revenue = Government’s proposed Expenditure.

Surplus Budget
● The budget is a surplus budget when the estimated revenues of the year are greater than
anticipated expenditures.
● Government Estimated revenue > Estimated Government Expenditure

Deficit Budget
● Deficit budget is one where the estimated government expenditure is more than expected
revenue.
Government estimated Revenue < Government proposed Expenditure

Budgetary Deficits
● When a government spends more than it collects by way of revenue, it incurs a budget
deficit.
● In reference to the Indian Government budget, the budget deficit is of four major types:
o Revenue Deficit
o Budget Deficit
o Fiscal Deficit
o Primary Deficit
Revenue Deficit
● The revenue deficit refers to the excess of government’s revenue expenditure over revenue
receipts.
Revenue deficit = Revenue expenditure – Revenue receipts

Budget Deficit
 ● Budget deficit is the difference between total receipts and total expenditure (both revenue
and capital)
Budget Deficit = Total Expenditure – Total Revenue

Primary Deficit
● Primary deficit is equal to fiscal deficit minus interest payments.
● It shows the real burden of the government and it does not include the interest burden on
loans taken in the past.
Primary Deficit (PD) = Fiscal deficit (PD) - Interest Payment (IP)
Fiscal Deficit
● Fiscal deficit is the difference between the government’s total expenditure and its total
receipts excluding borrowing.

Fiscal Policy
● Fiscal policy has been defined as the ‘the policy of the government with regard to the level
of government purchases, the level of transfers, and the tax structure’.
● Fiscal policy is also defined as ‘changes in government expenditures and taxes that are
designed to achieve macroeconomic policy goals’.
● As an instrument of macro-economic policy, fiscal policy has been very popular among
modern governments. The growing importance of fiscal policy was due to the Great
Depression and the development of ‘New Economics’ by Keynes.

Fiscal Instruments
● Fiscal Policy is implemented through fiscal instruments also called ‘fiscal tools’ or fiscal
levers: Government expenditure, taxation and borrowing are the fiscal tools.
● Taxation: Taxes transfer income from the people to the Government. Taxes are either direct
or indirect. An increase in tax reduces disposable income. So, taxation should be raised to
control inflation. During depression, taxes are to be reduced.
● Public Expenditure: Public expenditure raises wages and salaries of the employees and
thereby the aggregate demand for goods and services. Hence public expenditure is raised to
fight recession and reduced to control inflation.
● Public debt: When Government borrows by floating a loan, there is transfer of funds from
the public to the Government. At the time of interest payment and repayment of public
debt, funds are transferred from Government to public.

Objectives of Fiscal Policy

● Full Employment
● Price stability
● Economic growth
● Equitable distribution
● External stability
 ● Capital formation
● Regional balance

Finance Commission
● Finance commission is a quasi-judicial body set up under Article 280 of the Indian
Constitution. It was established in the year 1951, to define the fiscal relationship framework
between the Centre and the state.
● Under Article 280 of the Constitution the finance commission recommends the distribution
of the net proceeds of taxes between the Centre and the states every five years.
● Finance Commission aims to reduce the fiscal imbalances between the centre and the states
and also between the states. It promotes inclusiveness.
● A Finance Commission is set up once in every 5 years. It is normally constituted two years
before the period.
● The 15th Finance Commission has been set up in November 2017.
● Chairman of 15th finance commission - N. K. Singh.
SSC CHSL Exam
Study Material for Physics
 LIST OF INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES
Invention/Discovery Name of the Inventor Year of Invention
Automatic Calculator Wilhelm Schickard 1623
Air Conditioner Willis Carrier 1902
Anemometer Leon Battista Alberti 1450
Animation J. Stuart Blackton —
Atom Bomb Julius Robert Oppenheimer 1945
Aspirin Dr. Felix Hoffman 1899
Airplane Wilber and Orville Wright 1903
Adhesive tape Richard G. Drew 1923
Bacteria Antoni van Leeuwenhoek 1676
Bifocal Lens Benjamin Franklin 1779
Barometer Evangelista Torricelli 1643
Barbed Wire Joseph F. Glidden 1873
Blood Group Karl Lansdsteiner 1900s
Ball Point Pen John Loud —
Bicycle Tyres John Boyd Dunlop 1888
Pedal Driven Bicycle Kirkpatrick Macmillan 1839
Cell Robert Hooke 1665
Cell Nucleus Robert Brown 1831
Celluloid Alexander Parkes 1861
Chloroform Sir James Young Simpson —
Cine Camera Wm. Friese-Greene 1889
Circulation of blood William Harvey 1628
Clock Mechanical Hsing and Ling-Tsan 1725
Diesel Engine Rudolf Diesel 1892
Centigrade Scale Anders Celsius 1742
Chlorine Carl Wilhelm Scheele 1774
Dynamite Alfred B. Nobel 1867
Diesel Engine Rudolf Diesel 1895
Electric stove/cooker William S. Hadaway 1896
Electroscope William Gilbert 1600s
Electric Fan Schuyler Wheeler 1882
Electric Battery Volta 1800
Elevator Elisha G. Otis 1852
Electric Motor (DC) Thomas Davenport 1873
Electromagnet William Sturgeon 1824
Fountain Pen Petrache Poenaru 1827
Fluorine André-Marie Ampère 1810
Gramophone Thomas Edison 1878
Hydrogen Henry Cavendish 1766
Helicopter Igor Sikorsky 1939
Homeopathy &
Samuel Hahnemann 1796 & 1810
Allopathy
Hovercraft Christopher Cockerell 1959
Hot Air Balloon Josef & Etienne Montgolfier 1783
Helium Jules Janssen 1868
Insulin Sir Frederick Banting 1923
Jet Engine Hans Von Ohain 1936
Laws of Heredity Gregor Mendel —
Lightning Conductor Benjamin Franklin 1752
Locomotive George Stephenson 1804
Laser Theodore Maiman 1960
Light Bulb Thomas Edison 1854
Motorcycle Gottlieb Daimler 1885
Microscope Zacharis Janssen 1590
Microphone Alexander Graham Bell 1876
Machine Gun Richard Gatling 1861
Neon Lamp Georges Claude 1915
Oxygen Joseph Priestley 1774
Ozone Christian Schonbein 1839
Piano Bartolomeo Cristofori 1700
Printing Press Johannes Gutenberg 1440
Parachute Louis-Sebastien Lenormand 1783
Periodic Table Dmitri Mendeleev 1869
Penicillin Alexander Fleming 1928
Pacemaker Rune Elmqvist 1952
Petrol for Motor Car Karl Benz 1885
Plague Vaccine Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine 1892
Polio Vaccine Jonas Edward Salk –
Refrigerator William Cullen 1748
Rabies Vaccine Louis Pasteur 1885
Radium Marie & Pierre Curie 1898
Rubber (vulcanized) Charles Goodyear 1841
Rocket Engine Robert H. Goddard 1926
Radio Guglielmo Marconi 1894
Richter Scale Charles Richter 1935
Ship (Turbine) Charles Parsons 1894
Smallpox Vaccine Edward Jenner 1796
Steam Ship Robert Fulton 1807
Steam Boat Robert Fulton 1786
Structure of DNA James Watson & Francis Crick 1952
Submarine Cornelis Drebbel 1620
Stethoscope Rene Laennec 1816
Saxophone Adolphe Sax 1846
Sewing Machine Elias Howe 1846
Steam-Powered Airship Henri Giffard 1852
Soft Contact lenses Otto Wichterle 1961
Synthesizer Dr. Robert Arthur Moog 1964
Thermometer Galileo 1593
Theory of Evolution Charles Darwin 1858
Typewriter Christopher Latham Sholes —
Transistors John Bardeen, William Shockley & Walter Brattain 1948
Telephone Graham Bell 1874
Vaccine Edward Jenner 1796
Valve Radio Sir J.A Fleming 1904
Vacuum Cleaner Hubert Cecil Booth 1901
Vitamin A Frederick Gowland Hopkins 1912
Vitamin B Christiaan Eijkman 1897
Vitamin C Albert Szent-Gyorgi –
Vitamin K Henrik Dam 1929
Vitamin E Herbert McLean Evans & Katherine Scott Bishop
Windshield wipers Mary Anderson 1903
World Wide Web Tim Berners Lee with Robert Cailliau 1989
X-ray Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen 1895
Xerox Machine Chester Carlson 1928
SSC CHSL
Study Material For Polity
 PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
Parliament
● The parliament is the legislative organ of the Union government.
● The Parliament of India is bicameral (i.e. consists of two houses) namely Rajya Sabha (the
Council of States) and Lok Sabha (the House of the People).

Rajya Sabha
● The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha is fixed at 250, out of which, 238 are to be the
representatives of the states and union territories and 12 are nominated by the president.
● Presently the Rajya Sabha has 245 members. Of these, 229 members represent the states, 4
members represent the union territories and 12 members are nominated by the president.
● Members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the ‘State Legislative
Assemblies’ in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the
single transferable vote. This process of election is called “indirect election” as they are not
elected by the people directly.
● The Constitution lays down the following qualifications for a person to be chosen a member
of the Rajya Sabha:
o He should be a citizen of India.
o He should not be less than 30 years of age.
o He should not hold any office of profit under any Government.
● The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution of India deals with the allocation of seats in the
Rajya Sabha to the states and union territories.
● The Rajya Sabha (first constituted in 1952) is a continuing chamber. It is a permanent body
and not subject to dissolution. However, one-third of its members retire every second year.
● Representation of the People Act (1951) provided that the term of office of a member of the
Rajya Sabha is six years.
● Rajya Sabha cannot reject or amend a money bill.
● The vice-president of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
● The Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha is elected by the members of the Rajya Sabha.
● Rajya Sabha authorize the Parliament to create new All-India Services common to both the
Centre and states.

Lok Sabha
● The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 552. Out of this, 530 members are to be
the representatives of the states, 20 members are to be the representatives of the union
territories and 2 members are to be nominated by the president from the Anglo-Indian
community.
● Presently the Lok Sabha has 545 members. Of these, 530 members represent the states, 13
members represent the union territories and 2 Anglo-Indian members are nominated by
the President.
● Lok Shaba normal term is five years from the date of its first meeting after the general
elections, after which it automatically dissolves.
● The Constitution lays down the following qualifications for a person to be chosen a member
 of the Lok Sabha:
o He should be a citizen of India.
o He should not be less than 25 years of age.
o He should not hold any office of profit under the Union or State Government.
● The Speaker and deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha.
● Lok sabha speaker does not vote in the first instance. But he can exercise a casting vote in
the case of a tie. In other words, only when the House is divided equally on any question,
the Speaker is entitled to vote. Such vote is called casting vote, and its purpose is to resolve
a deadlock.
● Lok Sabha speaker presides over a joint setting of the two Houses of Parliament. Such a
sitting is summoned by the President to settle a deadlock between the two Houses on a bill.
● Lok Sabha speaker appoints the chairman of all the parliamentary committees of the Lok
Sabha and supervises their functioning.
● When Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker does not vacate his office and continues till the
newly-elected Lok Sabha meets.
● In the following cases, a member of Parliament vacates his seat:
o House can declare the seat of a member vacant if he is absent from all its meetings
for a period of sixty days without its permission;
o Person cannot be a member of both the Parliament and the state legislature at the
same time. If a person is so elected, his seat in Parliament becomes vacant if he does
not resign his seat in the state legislature within 14 days;
o If a person is elected to both the Houses of Parliament, he must intimate within 10
days in which House he desires to serve. In default of such intimation, his seat in the
Rajya Sabha becomes vacant.

Zero Hour
● The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the
day.
● It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures and has been in existence
since 1962.

Important Points About Parliament

● The Non confidence motion needs the support of 50 members to be admitted.
● Ordinary Bill can be introduced either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. It can be
introduced either by a minister or by a private member.
● Money bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and not in the Rajya Sabha. It can be
introduced only by a minister.
● Rajya Sabha cannot amend or reject a Money Bill. It should return the bill to the Lok Sabha
within 14 days, either with recommendations or without recommendations.
● The Speaker of Lok Sabha presides over a joint sitting of the two Houses.
● The final power to decide whether a particular bill is a Money Bill or not is vested in the
Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
● The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months. In
 other words, the Parliament should meet at least twice a year.
● Parliament Sessions:
o Budget Session - February to May
o Monsoon Session - July to September
o Winter Session - November to December
● Ganesh Vasudev Mavalanker is first speaker of Lok sabha.
● Parliament is also vested with powers to impeach the President and to remove Judges of the
Supreme Court and High Courts, Chief Election Commissioner and Comptroller and Auditor
General of India in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Constitution.

Committees of the Parliament

Broadly, parliamentary Committees are of two kinds - Standing Committee and Ad Hoc
Committees. The former is permanent (constituted every year or periodically) and work on a
continuous basis, while the latter is temporary and ceases to exist on completion of the task
assigned to them.

Standing Committees

On the basis of the nature of functions performed by them, standing Committees can be classified
into the following six categories:

1. Financial Committees
a) Public Accounts Committee
b) Estimates Committee
c) Committee on Public Undertakings

2. Departmental Standing Committees (24)

3. Committees to Inquire
a) Committee on Petitions
b) Committee of Privileges
c) Ethics Committee

4. Committees to Scrutinize and Control

a) Committee on Government Assurances
b) Committee on Subordinate Legislation
c) Committee on Papers Laid on the Table
d) Committee on Welfare of SC’s and ST’s
e) Committee on Empowerment of Women
f) Joint Committee on Offices of Profit
5. Committees Relating to the Day-to-Day Business of the House
a) Business Advisory Committee
 b) Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions
c) Rules Committee
d) Committee on Absence of Members from Sittings of the House

6. House-Keeping Committees or Service Committees

a) General Purposes Committee
b) House Committee
c) Library Committee
d) Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members.

Ad Hoc Committee
Ad Hoc Committees can be divided into two categories, that is, Inquiry Committees and Advisory
Committees.